Dolphins Might Need to Win Out ... And They've Done It Before

The Miami Dolphins are two games back in the loss column for the final AFC playoff spot

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel paces the sideline during a game against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, November 28, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won the game, 30-17. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins' path to a potential playoff spot got harder after the results of Week 13, and it just might be they'll need to win out to even have a chance.

The Dolphins conceivably could still earn a third consecutive playoff spot if they finish with a 9-8 record, but that would require multiple losses down the stretch by one or more of the contenders, whether it be the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens or Los Angeles Chargers.

But all those teams currently have eight victories, and Baltimore has games remaining against the 2-10 New York Giants and 3-9 Cleveland Browns, Denver has games remaining against the 6-7 Indianapolis Colts and 4-8 Cincinnati Bengals, and the Chargers have games remaining against the 2-10 Las Vegas Raiders and 3-9 New England Patriots.

In other words, the likelihood is they'll all finish at least 10-7, which means that's the record the Dolphins will need to get involved in tiebreaker scenarios.

That scenario would mean the Dolphins would have to win out to have a shot, and that means defeating the New York Jets, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland and the Jets again.

The Dolphins likely will be favored in four of those games, the one exception being the game at Houston, which will be the only one against a team with a winning record because the 49ers could only get to 7-7 before they come to Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 22.

The last two games, of course, could present weather challenges and we don't need to discuss the Dolphins' poor record in cold games in recent years — though we should mention that their 0-7 record with Tua Tagovailoa as their starting quarterback with game-time temperatures under 50 featured five games against playoff opponents.

And Cleveland and the Jets are not those kind of opponents.

DOLPHINS HISTORY OF STRONG FINISHES

But we get the skepticism among Dolphins fans who won't see finishing with five consecutive victories as being realistic considering the way the team has performed all season.

This is where we point to Dolphins history to show season-ending winning streaks are not impossible.

To be fair, it has been a while. We have to go back to 2008 for a Dolphins season-ending winning streak of at least three games. That year, the Dolphins won their last five to go from 6-5 to 11-5 and — as every Miami fan should know — win the AFC East title, the last time that's happened.

Overall, the Dolphins have had seven winning streaks longer than three games to close out a regular season — 1970, 1972 (of course, because the whole season was a winning streak), 1981, 1983, 1985, 2005 and 2008.

The Dolphins made the playoffs in every single one of those seasons, except for 2005 when the six-game winning streak to close out Nick Saban's first season as head coach came after the team was 3-7.

So, yes, the Dolphins have produced a long winning streak to close out a regular season before, and they probably have to do it again in 2024 if they hope to make the playoffs.