Dolphins Have at Least One NFL Network Playoff Believer

NFL analysts select division winners and wild-card teams.

Nov 3, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) hands off the ball to Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert (31) during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

With the current NFL season reaching its midway point, NFL.com and NFL Network analysts picked all eight AFC and NFC division winners and six wild-card teams Wednesday.

The 27 experts voted on who they thought would win their divisions or secure a wild-card spot.

Give former NFL quarterback David Carr credit for boldness. He is the lone analyst who put his chips in on the Miami Dolphins to secure a wild-card spot despite their current 2-6 record.

Carr selected the Dolphins to clinch the final wild-card seed in the AFC.

A career journeyman after he was the first overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft as the first-ever selection of the Houston Texans, Carr was a 2011 member of the New York Giants, who defeated the New England Patriots 21-17 to win Super Bowl XLVI.

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Recent teams starting with the same 2-6 record who have made the playoffs include the 2020 Washington Football Team and the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars.

To show the magnitude of Carr's prediction, the analysts picked the top six non-division winners and ranked them by the number of votes received.

The Los Angeles Chargers received the most votes for a wild-card spot, 57, and the Pittsburgh Steelers came in second, with 56.

The Dolphins received one lone vote from Carr.

Carr selected Buffalo, Baltimore, Houston and Kansas City as AFC division champions, then selected the Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and the Dolphins to make the playoffs as wild-card teams.

According to the NFL.com predictions, the Dolphins were among seven teams to get a vote as a wild-card entry. The Dolphins and the New York Jets, who are 3-6, each got one vote. The Jets, who the Dolphins will face in Week 14 and Week 18, got their one vote from Dan Parr.