Miami Dolphins Fans Week 15 Rooting Guide

The schedule features eight games involving AFC playoff hopefuls, including four head-to-head matchups

The red-hot Miami Dolphins will be back in action Sunday, albeit likely short-handed because of COVID-19 issues, when they face the New York Jets Stadium at Hard Rock Stadium and they'll look to extend their winning streak to six games and hopefully continue to inject themselves into the thick of the AFC playoff picture.

The Dolphins-Jets matchups is just one of eight involving the 13 AFC playoff contenders who have a record of 6-7 or better heading into Week 15.

As we explained in our Dolphins playoff outlook Monday, the biggest issue isn't so much their record as it is the number of teams ahead of them in the standings.

It starts with a big Thursday night clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers and will end with a late Sunday afternoon battle between the Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Ravens.

Here's the rundown (with odds from SISportsbook.com), broken down by head-to-head matchups (and who to root for) and the no-brainers between an AFC playoff contender and an NFC team:

THE HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUPS (AND WHO THE DOLPHINS AND THEIR FANS SHOULD ROOT FOR)

Kansas City (9-4) at L.A. Chargers (8-5), Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET: The Chiefs will just about wrap up the AFC West title with a victory here and put the Dolphins in position to tie the Chargers at 8-6. Los Angeles, on the other hand, can tie for first place in the division and clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker by completing a season sweep, at the same time putting two AFC West teams a game ahead of Miami. A K.C. win in this game is much more preferable for the Dolphins.

Las Vegas (6-7) at Cleveland (7-6), Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET: The Raiders have fallen on hard times recently, but the Browns are having major COVID issues, including the absence of not only starting QB Baker Mayfield but also backup Case Keenum. Given the remaining schedule for both teams, this isn't a crucial game from a Dolphins standpoint but a Raiders win probably would be better.

New England (9-4) at Indianapolis (7-6), Saturday, 8:20 p.m. ET: It's pretty amazing to see the Patriots having a two-game lead after starting the season 2-4, but here we are. New England looks like it's headed for yet another AFC East title and the Colts are a game ahead of the Dolphins, so as painful as this might be, it's hard rooting for the Patriots in this one.

Tennessee (9-4) at Pittsburgh (6-6-1), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET: The Titans are likely to win the AFC South and not be involved in a tiebreaker with the Dolphins, so they might as well beat any other AFC playoff contender they face. So this is a clear rooting choice for Ryan Tannehill and the Titans.

Cincinnati (7-6) at Denver (7-6), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET: The Dolphins are not facing either team this season, so there's no clear and obvious tiebreaker advantage at the moment and because both teams have a fairly difficult three-game finish, it probably doesn't make a huge difference at this point who wins this game.

INTERCONFERENCE GAMES

Carolina (5-8) at Buffalo (7-6), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET: The Bills are coming off tough losses against the Pats and Bucs and it would greatly help the Dolphins to avoid a tiebreaker situation with Buffalo. If we're thinking the Bills are going to lose at New England in Week 16, then the Dolphins would need for Buffalo to lose against Carolina, Atlanta or the Jets in their final three home games to avoid a potential tiebreaker at 10-7. So, go Panthers.

Green Bay (10-3) at Baltimore (8-5), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET: It wasn't long ago that the Ravens looked out of reach for the Dolphins, but their injuries keep piling up, they've lost two in a row and now they very well might be without Lamar Jackson against the powerful Packers in a game where a Baltimore loss obviously helps the Dolphins.