The Miami Dolphins needed everything to go perfectly in the final two weeks of the season. It starts with getting the necessary help during Saturday's games, but none of that matters if the Dolphins can't take care of business against the Cleveland Browns.
Miami sits two games out of the playoff positions. Along with winning out, it requires the Los Angeles Chargers or Denver Broncos to lose out and the Indianapolis Colts to drop one of their two remaining games.
Forget about those other matchups. The Dolphins now face an uphill battle to win their own game following the latest Tua Tagovailoa injury update.
Miami initially listed Tagovailoa as questionable on the team's final injury report, which didn't seem too concerning. However, the Dolphins have now downgraded his status to doubtful, almost guaranteeing he won't play against the Browns.
Dolphins must save their season without Tua Tagovailoa in Week 17
Tagovailoa is dealing with a hip injury from the Week 15 loss to the Houston Texans, but he played through it last week. The downgrade to doubtful comes as a surprise, as Tua and Mike McDaniel were barely asked any questions about his status in the lead-up to this week's game. Most assumed he would play.
Following the injury report update, the Dolphins promoted Skylar Thompson to the gameday roster. He will back up Tyler Huntley, who starts against his former team.
Can the Dolphins still win this week without Tua?
It's possible. After all, the Browns are 3-12, have nothing to play for, and will start Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback, who has thrown for 257 yards, no touchdowns, and five interceptions this season.
But it goes beyond that. Tagovailoa suffered the injury two weeks ago, and the fact it is now significant enough to keep him out of a must-win game is concerning. Does this mean he will be dealing with this issue for the remainder of the season?
We've seen the Dolphins without Tua this season, and the results weren't great. Huntley may lead them to victory over his former team on Sunday, but Tagovailoa's injury has made the Dolphins' unlikely task of making the playoffs become close to impossible.
This team must now overcome yet another obstacle to beat the odds and clinch a wild-card berth in the final two weeks of the regular season.