The Miami Dolphins have taken a bumpy ride to get to their 8-6 record.  The Dolphins have mixed in nice wins over division leaders like the Colts, Patriots, and Bengals……but then they’ve lost games against teams like the Bills and Buccaneers.  But here the Dolphins stand at 8-6 and currently #7 in the playoff standings.  But, as a few results went there way, the Dolphins actually control their own destiny.  I’ve seen a lot of talk on Twitter about what has to happen for the Dolphins to get in…this post is going to lay it all out for you.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

The Easy Way In

Because of the Steelers win on Sunday night against the Bengals, the Dolphins were handed control of their own playoff lives.  If they beat the Bills and the Jets, they are in.  Period.  They don’t need the Ravens to lose or anything like that.

The reason:  If the Dolphins win their last 2, they will finish 10-6.  If both the Ravens and Bengals win this week, they will be 9-6 and 10-5 respectively, going into the final week of the season.  One of those teams will lose their week 17 matchup (unless there’s a tie, in which case the Dolphins would have a better record than the Ravens).  So either the Ravens will move to 10-6 and win the AFC North by way of tiebreaker over the Bengals OR the Bengals will finish 11-5, dropping the Ravens to 9-7 (a game behind the Dolphins).  And if the Ravens win the North, the Dolphins and Bengals would be tied for the wild card, but since the Dolphins beat the Bengals on Halloween, they’re in.  Got it?

The Dolphins can actually clinch a playoff spot this week if they win and the Ravens and Bengals both lose.  The Ravens are home against the Patriots and the Bengals are home against the Vikings.  Don’t count on it.  (continued on page 2, CLICK HERE)