Dolphins Week 17 Rooting Guide

The Dolphins might not need outside help the remainder of the regular season, but outside results also ultimately affect their playoff scenario

We're down to two weeks left in the regular season and the AFC playoff picture is pretty clear for the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins will enter Week 17 in second place in the AFC standings, but will secure the No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs with wins in their final two games — at Baltimore on Sunday and against Buffalo at Hard Rock Stadium the following week. The Dolphins can't get the top seed if they lose against Baltimore, but they still could get that top seed even if they lost against Buffalo with a Baltimore loss against Pittsburgh in Week 18 and one Cleveland loss in the Browns' final two games.

If the Dolphins split their final two games, they can do no worse than the No. 2 seed.

The other, obviously worst-case, scenario is for Miami to lose its final two games, which would make the Dolphins a wild-card team unless the New England Patriots upset the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The Dolphins can't finish lower than the sixth seed, but the only way they can get the fifth seed if they don't win the AFC East title is if the Browns lose against the Jets on Thursday night or against Cincinnati in Week 18.

With that stage set, here were our Dolphins rooting rankings for Week 17:

THE TEAMS THE DOLPHINS MOST WANT TO SEE WIN IN WEEK 17

1. New England (at Buffalo), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

This result would give the Dolphins the AFC East title even if they wind up losing against Baltimore. The Patriots defeated the Bills at Gillette Stadium earlier this season, so asking for a sweep might be a bit much, but you never know.

2. N.Y. Jets (at Cleveland), Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET

It's pretty crazy to imagine, but the Browns actually could end up as the No. 1 seed in the AFC if they win their final two games, Baltimore loses its final two games and the Dolphins lost against Buffalo. That would create a three-way tie at 12-5 atop the AFC, but Cleveland would get the AFC North title because of a better division record than Baltimore and the AFC No. 1 seed because of a better conference record than Miami.

3. Cincinnati (at Kansas City), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

This has to do with the Bengals being in a bad position in terms of tiebreaker because of their poor conference record and also watching the Chiefs continue to diminish as a sneak threat in the AFC playoffs (because they'll be dangerous as long as they have Patrick Mahomes in the lineup).

4. Carolina (at Jacksonville), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

This is an AFC-NFC battle that will help sort out the wacky AFC South title, though the Jaguars are in complete free fall right now.

5. Seattle (at home vs. Pittsburgh), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET

Battle of AFC team versus NFC team always means a lean toward the NFC team.

6. Las Vegas (at Indianapolis), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Neither team really figures to impact the Dolphins' playoff scenarios, so we'll just go with the team with the lesser record.

7. Tennessee (at Houston), Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Kind of the same deal at the Vegas-Indy game, though we do have a lot of respect for the job DeMeco Ryans (and former Mike McDaniel colleague) has done in his first year with the Texans.

8. L.A. Chargers (at Denver), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

The Broncos still have a sliver of hope of making the playoffs, and it's going to be up to Jarrett Stidham to lead the way now that Russell Wilson has been benched.

WEEK 17 GAMES OF NO CONSEQUENCE TO THE DOLPHINS

These are games for Dolphins fans to watch for pure enjoyment or fantasy football purposes because they don't involve AFC contenders, though we should add that since the Dolphins own the Bears' 2024 sixth-round pick as a result of the training camp trade of center Dan Feeney, Detroit should be the choice in their matchup).

But here's the rest of the slate, in the interest of thoroughness:

Detroit at Dallas, Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET

Washington at N.Y. Jets, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Atlanta at Chicago, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

L.A. Rams at N.Y. Giants, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Arizona at Philadelphia, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

New Orleans at Tampa Bay, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

San Francisco at Washington, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Green Bay at Minnesota, Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET

The Dolphins Playoff Picture After Week 16