When the New England Patriots lost to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday afternoon, the path to the postseason was made much easier for the Miami Dolphins, who were waiting to take on the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day.
Entering Sunday, FiveThirtyEight had Miami’s odds of clinching a postseason birth this season at 82%, up from 78% after Thursday night’s game.
Unfortunately, Miami dropped their fourth game in as many weeks, losing to the Packers, 26-20, at Hard Rock Stadium.
Now, with the Monday night game left to go in Week 16 and two full slates of contests before the end of the year, the Dolphins’ playoff odds have fallen back down to 67%.
The result of the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts doesn’t really change Miami’s odds a whole lot. They go down to 65% in Los Angeles wins and remain at 67% with a loss.
Mike McDaniel’s team has two tough contests against division opponents in Weeks 17 and 18, and they may have to win both to end their streak of not making the postseason.
