6 Tennessee 5 6 0 4-4-0 Wins tie break over NY Jets, Pittsburgh and San Diego based on head-to-head sweep. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Miami

7 Pittsburgh 5 6 0 4-4-0 Wins tie break over NY Jets and San Diego based on best win percentage in conference games.

8 Baltimore 5 6 0 5-4-0 Wins tie break over NY Jets and San Diego based on best win percentage in conference games.

9 San Diego 5 6 0 3-5-0 Wins tie break over NY Jets based on best win percentage in conference games.

10 NY Jets 5 6 0 2-6-0 Wins tie break over Miami based on best win percentage in division games.

11 Miami 5 6 0 4-3-0

12 Oakland 4 7 0 4-4-0 Wins tie break over Buffalo and Cleveland based on best win percentage in conference games.

13 Cleveland 4 7 0 3-5-0 Wins tie break over Buffalo based on head-to-head win percentage.

14 Buffalo 4 7 0 3-6-0

Remaining Schedules:
Tennessee @IND @DEN ARZ @JAX HOU
Pittsburgh @BALT MIA CIN @GB CLE
Baltimore PITT MIN @DET NE @CIN
San Diego CIN NYG @DEN OAK KC
New York MIA OAK @CAR CLE MIA
Miami @NYJ @PITT NE @BUF NYJ
Oakland @DAL @NYJ KC @SD DEN
Cleveland JAX @NE CHI @NYJ @PITT
Buffalo ATL @TB @JAX MIA @NE

Week 13
Baltimore @ Pitt
Big Thanksgiving game. This will be big, and we want a Pittsburgh win. We hold ALL the tie breakers at this point due to conference record except with Baltimore (and Buffalo), so we need to get ahead of Baltimore, Mind you Baltimore plays a rough block of Detroit, New England, and Cincinnatti to close out the season against 3 playoff teams, so if it doesnt happen this week, I highly doubt they can run the table. Either way, one of the (5-6ers) will drop to (5-7) and with that being done, that will probably be the nail in the coffin for either team due to the head-to-head tie breakers and only 4 games to jump over the other one

Miami @ New York
Definite MUST win. Miami would drop to 3 division losses and would then trail New York in head to head, division record, and overall. Miami MUST win this one to be in the picture. If they don't its gonna be a wrap unless Miami can win the last 3 division games.... doubtful with New England on the schedule still.

Oakland and Buffalo out of conference

Tennesee @ Indy
They may hold the lead, but they have 4 losses.... one more than the Dolphins that hold the best conference record.. A loss would bring the Titans to 5, giving Miami a 2 game cushion if tie breakers play a factor. Tennessee's run to the top will be short lived, If Miami wins on Sunday, they will jump to the top of the pile (with a Baltimore loss)

Cin @ SD
Should be a rough game, in the spirit of things, If SD stays pace with Miami, no big deal, we have a head to Head

Week 14
Pending the outcomes of Pitt/Balt, Mia/NYJ, the picture will be alot clearer. The wildcard WILL be owned by at least 2 (6-6) teams, as many as 4 (depending on SD and TEN). If Miami wins, they will either be 6th...(if three/four due to conference record, or 7th if it is head to head with Baltimore)

Miami @ Pitt
Another Must have. If Pittsburgh did us the favor on Thanksgiving, the winner should be sitting on the 6th seed at (7-6)

Baltimore, SD, and Buffalo out of conference- at this point, any 8 loss team is probably going to be eliminated, if not officially, it will be pending disaster

Oakland @ NYJ
Basically an elimination game for either team if they lost in Week 13

Ten @ DEN
Tennessee better hope they beat Indy, or else this one could be the death blow

Week 15
At this point, Miami will either be in control of their own destiny, or needing alot of help. Miami should be 7-6 going in here, and in full control of the 6th seed (unless Baltimore has something to say about it). Winning 2 of 3 will lock it up here

NE @ Miami
This could be a loss, and it won't change anything. As long as we beat the Jets, and if we get past Pittsburgh, the best the Jets can do is tie us with an unfavorable head to head, and 7 conference losses (yea that saints win is looking meaningless now)

Baltimore @ Detriot
Interesting game. This may be the luck we will need to get in the playoffs, Baltimore's loss here may keep us a game ahead going into the final 2 weeks

Arizona @ Tennesee
Bad 3 weeks for the Titans, they is absolutely no way they are getting through this 3 week stretch without a loss.... it gets easier for them in the final 2, but if they hit that dreaded 8 loss mark, they will need some help to hold the fight

Week 16
There is a chance that a (8-6) team is in sole possession of the wildcard, but the more probable results will have 2 or 3 (7-7) teams here probably 1 from the East, 1 from the North, and maybe 1 from the West.... If Miami is 7-7 they should be the leader having beat the Steelers and Jets

New England @ Baltimore
Should be a desperation game here. Baltimore having played 2 out of conference games, and if they lost to pittsburgh would be going in with 5 conference losses. A loss here would bring them to 6. Between this one and Cincinnatti in the final week, they will need to win at least 1 to make the playoffs against 2 division leaders.

SD/Oakland
If both are still alive, one of them is eliminated officially with a loss

CLE/NYJ
If both are still alive, one of them is eliminated officially with a loss

Miami @ Buffalo
If Miami is 7-7 going in, they will need to win in order to keep the final week in their control. A loss here, and they won't be eliminated, but they will need some serious help plus a win over the Jets to be an 8-8 back door playoff team

Week 17

Game of the Year (circa 2008) New York @ Miami
Winner take all. Miami wins and they are in. A loss, and they will lose the tie breaker to the Jets and be eliminated if it factors in. a head-to-head split would give miami 3 if not 4 division losses, which will lose to the Jets 2 or 3 losses

If the Wildcard goes to a 9-7 team at the point which is the most probable outcome. Tennesee would have to win the winnable ones, plus 2 of the first 3. More than likely they bottom out 7-9 or 8-8

Pittsburgh is interesting here. If they get past a split with Miami and Baltimore, they could ride out a 3 game win streak at the end to hit 9-7, the problem will be if the Ravens catch pace, they could be under them. If the Dolphins pull the road victory, the Steelers will be eliminated by tiebreaker with us

Buffalo if they are even alive will play NE, and probably knocked out of the race unless Brady sits. New England looks like they will be battling for home field the rest of the season, so don't count on it.

SD and KC.
This one is interesting. KC should have had the playoffs locked up for at least 2 weeks now. If they lose to Denver this week, they are a 3 loss team, and are a definite lock for the wildcard #5, if they beat Denver they will probably battle for the division crown. 1 win, locks the Chiefs into the #5 so that being said, SD may have a scrub team scrimmage. If they survive at (8-7) at this point which is doubtful, they probably would have the easiest path in (at 7-8 they will probably be eliminated due to tie breakers at 8-8)

Baltimore is in a funny position here. They will be playing a potential playoff opponent. Cincinatti may be in the position to play the lose to Baltimore to play them again in a week situation, or knock them out and play some one else. Should be interesting

Again. Miami is ranked 11th right now due to the tie breaker loss with the Jets that will be resolved in Week 13. Miami only has 3 conference losses, we hold all the positioning at the moment. Beat the Jets and we will be 6th, worst case 7th, and in great shape. The Carolina loss, however disappointing is pretty much meaningless. Tied for the Wildcard, 12 weeks in is better than the Dolphins have done in the past 5 years. Win 4 of 5, and the Dolphins are a lock to get in. Win 3 of 5 and it will come down to breakers, and again, we hold all of them except Baltimore. Baltimore loses 3 of the 5 and we are in great shape. Even with 2 losses, Miami will only have 5 conference losses, which will definitely put us in prime position. (Oakland, Balt, Pitt and Tennessee are the only ones with 4 as we speak, and none of those 4 are going to run the table)

Man....it seems like we go through this fantasy every year....and Santa just doesn't deliver.

The Patriots will kill us, and I suspect we lose one to the Jets. Throw in a loss to the Bills in frigid Buffalo. 7-9 here we come, again....that will be 5 straight seasons of 7-9+/- a game. Mediocrity in perpetuity. Fire Ireland, get rid of Sherman and get it done!

_________________

Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!
1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

who cares. We suck.

Guess it depends who you ask, haha. Eh, I'm done preachin bout my faith in the team. I understand why everyone is frustrated, I just don't like to fall victim of it when we turn things around. I'm loyal, and will stick by the team. If I got through Cleo Lemon, I can get through this fairly easily.

when your season is almost 100% over by Thanksgiving every year, faith in this franchise goes out the window. New GM and coaching staff is required.

Philbin hasn't even been there for 2 full seasons yet. So impatient!

The Dolphins simply aren't good enough, and if you make excuses you've failed to accurately assess the season.

"If they don't bite as pups, they probably won't ever bite," is the most fitting Bill Parcells mantra to describe Philbin's HC career so far. That credo works for both players and coaches IMO.

Please , the refs have it in for us. We are a one loss team.

The Dolphins simply aren't good enough, and if you make excuses you've failed to accurately assess the season.


Well said Swerve. To this point I agree. It is shame though that the Dolphins have been in positions PLENTY of times to have executed plays to have made this a better season.

Sincere question here, what evidence are you seeing that Philbin deserves more time? Preaching patience and generalizations doesn't really counter everyone else's criticisms. Are you seeing learning experiences or the same mistakes consistently being made?

Sure, with a better OL and maybe a few deep passes from Tannehill this team might be 7-3. But is that simply deepening our false hope that Philbin can hang with and outcoach the likes of Bellichick, Ryan and Tomlin?

I agree that false hope is better than no hope, but its not like Miami has had a defining game in the last 2 years. Every week we just hope and pray that they hang on to the lead and that the opponent beats themselves. Is that a winning formula? On the field it seems the coaches either don't put guys in position to succeed or when they do the guys struggle to execute. That isn't a recipe to "beat" oppponents, its crossing your fingers that you don't blow a lead or the other team doesn't bring their A game.

How can anyone really still cling to hopes of making the playoffs? Is Miami going to somehow magically develop a running game to win playoff games in nasty weather in KC, New England or Denver in December? Swerve is right with this statement "The Dolphins simply aren't good enough, and if you make excuses you've failed to accurately assess the season." This team is going nowhere this year because the offensive line is terrible. It is what it is and they are who they are. If Pouncey, Incognito and Martin returned tomorrow they would still be a below average line. There is no cure or turnaround for this season. Its more realistic to start wondering where they will be drafting and who will be making the selections.

_________________

We could have entire game up if we would have won. Hell, we could win the division if we didn't blow 3-4 games in the second half this year. Balt, Buff, Car, and pats.

Could you imagine what this team would look like in a playoff game, where the dynamics/stakes are much higher and the game planning even more intricate?

_________________

Correct, but he seems so clueless.

He was not aware that his QB was saying GO GO on almost every run and GO on almost every pass.

When he became aware, he didn't see what the big deal was.

He was not aware that his locker room was a mess, or maybe he was and didn't care.

He's so detached from seemingly everything going on with this team. It's his DNA. He doesn't seem hands on, doesn't seem to have any fire. His team is losing in embarrassing fashion and all he can do is congratulate the other team.

Not inspiring at all.

_________________

Probably the same way they did in 2008 with Pennington, the vet with experience, throwing 4 interceptions because Baltimore's defense took away the gimmick. Pretenders do not contend.

Could you imagine what this team would look like in a playoff game, where the dynamics/stakes are much higher and the game planning even more intricate?

Yeah, it would look like our last 2 playoff apperances, roll jobs.

Upside to Philbin-5/5 on Challenges this year, Miami doesn't get penalized often, and when we do some are bull crap calls. Like the batting the ball sack fumble in the Patriots game. Guess that's Philbins fault too. He must have told Vernon to do that, I forgot. And the picked up flag in the Panthers game...Ireland and Philbin must have gotten together with the refs before the drive and made that happen, too, huh? Those are just two key penalties, that had nothing to do with Joe Philbin, that have changed the outcome of these football games. But hey, he said go go so automatically the play was a bust. If you are all so sold on how things are going to go, I guess you won't be watching these last games then. What's the point? I hope you get proven wrong but it's almost like you want to be right.

So everything has to be his fault for him to be inept?

Those are low standards.

_________________

There are bad calls in every game. Good team overcome them.

I think things could be going way worse. 2nd year QB getting better...starting to figure out what he needs to do to get this team where they want to be. If the Long ball comes back this week against the Jets, that's a significant sign of improvement in play calling. Although I'm sick of Slants all the time, they do work sometimes. He has held onto the ball when getting hit, and has shown his ability to run lately. Things are positive over here. I think in all reality whoever makes it from the Martin case will have another year to prove themselves or Ross will let them go.

No one in the afc deserves the 6th wildcard spot, but someone has to win it. I think the Chargers or Ravens will get it.

Yes, I'm having flashbacks of 1/15/2000. Jacksonville 62 Miami 7.

The problems this Dolphins team has can not be turned around in the middle of a season, so making the playoffs won't prove they turned a corner and are better that everyone thinks. It would only mean the AFC is weak.

_________________
Don't give up. Don't ever give up." - Jim Valvano

[url]<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DIbxZzWGEAE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/url]

I don't think anyone outside of the Broncos is going to dominate this team in the AFC...maybe the Patriots.. so a playoff game on the road...I can actually see them doing something stupid and winning it. Getting there is a whole other story. They have to win 4 of the next 5 because we've seen that tie breakers don't work well for them. They've not shown lately that it is possible for them to achieve that.

thats was the whole point of my write up. TIE BREAKERS FAVOR MIAMI!!!

3-2 the rest of the way with some help and they are in

Only team unfavorable is Baltimore, otherwise due to conference record, we have the leg up on everyone

If 8-8 gets them into the playoffs then wow is the AFC weak this year.

Strange, I was thinking that 6-10 would net us better than the 6th spot come March....

_________________
Caution: Reply may contain sarcasm

1. Skirt hiked...check
2. Bent over...check
3. ankles grabbed....check

Looks like the Dolphins are in their usual late season position

You had me at "[url]<iframe". : )

Do we really want this Miami team in the playoffs? Is one & done that great?

If Miami gets hot in the month of December and plays competitively in the first round then yes I would be okay with a one and done. If they back into the playoffs because everyone else collapses and get embarrassed in round 1 then no because it might be justification for a lame duck year with the coaching staff.

But if Miami gets hot then perhaps there is something to this group and it is a formula to build on. That is a big IF.

Miami needs to run the table for me to want them in the playoffs.

D4me... getting in the playoffs...finishing above 7-9 show improvement. It probably means Phibin gets another year. If not, it is blowing the whole thing up and starting from scratch..again. I like Philbin but am starting to waiver on my support. So getting into the playoffs, even if it means an early exodus, is what I'd like to see them do.

I think the playoffs are still very realistic. Beating the Jets on Sunday puts us in a tie with at least Baltimore and maybe 2 others with 4 games to go. If we can beat the Jets twice, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh at 9-7 we are in with the New England loss.

Im sorry. 9-7 is an absolute improvement over the last 4 years. Getting a January game is hopeful. Miami has beaten the Colts and the Bengals whom would be potential first round matchups, so maybe a playoff win for the first time in a decade is a huge sign of improvement.

I don't think any one is thinking Super Bowl unless you count the obnoxious delusional fans Like I am, but still. There are only 5 good teams in the AFC, why can't we be happy being the 6th, and last at the table in the yearly party?

Do we deserve to be there? No, I dont think the play over the last 2 months merit any kind of accolades. But reality is, Miami wins on Sunday this week, and they have a leg up in the race going down the stretch, and as long as Baltimore falls behind, it is ours to lose, even after all the missed opportunities....

There have been countless years where a Dolphins team deserved to be there, and fell short:

The final Saban year, winning 6 in a row, and finishing short (they would have definitely been dangerous in the playoffs)

The 2002 season where we lost a tie breaker with the Browns at 10-6 and missed out.....

The last Fiedler year, with his shoulder injury that had Brian Griese plugged in and destroyed the season

Even last year there was a scenario to get us in, and they were playing good at the time too, would we have been happier then with the 2012 team over the 2013 team.

Lets be realistic here. The Seahawks got in at (7-9) before. You don't have to be good to get in (just one of the top 6 in your conference), but once you are in you can make noise.

12 out of 32 teams make the playoffs, the top third. There are not 12 elite teams in the NFL. If there were that many, what do you call the other 20, sub par?

Getting in is a reality. Losing to 3 NFC teams is a luxury, since we scrapped through the important ones. Beat the Steelers and Jets these next two weeks and be (7-6), and eliminate them, and all of a sudden the mood will change.

Can the Dolphins beat the Jets?
Absolutely. Geno is turning into everything we thought he would be as the weather starts getting cold. Hell they've benched him a few times in the 4th quarter, and may end up doing the same at some point against our defense. Win the one in NY, and everything gets easier, and theyve won 2 in a row in New Jersey, lets see what happens

Beating bad teams shows improvement. Not having to scratch by to get every win shows improvement. Not looking inept shows improvement. Backing into the playoffs because you are the best of a bad lot does not show improvement. Right now there is not a team in the AFC worthy of the No. 6 seed. Its an embarrassment.

Please do not say it will build momentum for 2014. It doesn't.

Miami beat Cincy and Indy. Neither of those teams is scary and one of them would be Miami's first round opponent.

Miami is missing a handful of plays every game and that is making the difference. Part of it is coaching and part is execution.

I still think if you bring in a QB guru then Tannehill could be a top 10 QB. If you go to a 3-4 defense and get Wheeler as a backup you'd see more success against the run. Find a capable offensive line and you have a run game which takes a ton of pressure off Tannehill and the receivers. It also opens up the play action where Wallace can be so much more effective.

Miami getting the 6th seed will require road wins in tough environments in a pressure filled December. That should be reason for optimism if they pull it off.

You got that right. It was Sabans first season where we won the last 6 games only to start off 1 - 6 in the next season.

Here's the deal. If they make it in they're going to need to Win @Buffalo, @NY, @Pittsburgh, and eiher the Jets or NE at home. 8-8 isn't going to get in. Baltimore will finish a minimum of 8-8 and they own the tiebreakers against Miami. So IF (read into that my skeptcism) they get in, it will be an improvement.