Shortly after the Miami Dolphins lost to the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving to fall to 5-7 on the year, defensive lineman Calais Campbell told reporters, “I feel 10-7 gets us in” the playoffs. After Sunday and Monday, even that’s not looking likely.
The Dolphins have no shot at catching the Buffalo Bills, who clinched a fifth consecutive AFC East title. So the only path to the postseason for Miami is to track down at least one of four contenders: the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos.
The problem is that those teams aren’t leaving the door open.
While the Ravens lost a hard fought game against the Philadelphia Eagles, they’re still at eight wins. And both the Chargers and Broncos got their eighth win. The Steelers face several tough teams down the stretch, but improved to 9-3 with a shootout victory against the Bengals.
With only five weeks left, here’s the current state of affairs in the AFC:
- (x) Kansas City Chiefs: 11-1
- (y) Buffalo Bills: 10-2
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-3
- Houston Texans: 8-5
- Los Angeles Chargers: 8-4
- Baltimore Ravens: 8-5
- Denver Broncos: 8-5
- Indianapolis Colts: 6-7
- Miami Dolphins: 5-7
- Cincinnati Bengals: 4-8
(x – clinched playoff berth; y – clinched division title)
In the hypothetical that the Dolphins won five straight to finish the year 10-7, they’d have an 8-5 record in AFC play. That would likely be enough to win a tiebreaker if any of the teams ahead of them slip up. But Miami will need to be perfect and get some help to get into the postseason.
