The New York Giants pulled off an unlikely win Sunday, snapping a 10-game losing streak with a 45-33 upset win over the Indianapolis Colts.
The loss for the Colts eliminated them from the playoffs and the Miami Dolphins are among the biggest beneficiaries of that result.
Prior to the Giants win, the Dolphins needed — among a couple other things — the Colts to lose at least one of their last two games of the season. With matchups for Indianapolis against the lowly Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars in the last two weeks of the year, that was far from a sure thing.
But with the 7-8 Dolphins now ahead of the 7-9 Colts in the AFC standings, here’s what would need to happen to send Miami to the postseason for a third consecutive year:
- Dolphins win against Browns (Week 17) and Jets (Week 18)
- Broncos lose against Chiefs (Week 18)
And that’s all, folks.
If the Dolphins were to slip up against Cleveland or New York, it’d open the door for the Cincinnati Bengals to jump into the playoffs. But it’d be a moot point for both Miami and Cincinnati if the Chiefs can’t beat the Broncos next weekend.
