The Phinsider
The 2025 Miami Dolphins have struggled throughout the season, sitting at 4-7. However, they are still have a playoff possibility given the state of parity that seems to have hit the AFC this year. Despite this being Miami’s bye week, the Dolphins could find themselves in even better positioning by the end of the weekend.
What needs to happen for the Dolphins this weekend? We take a look at the schedule and break down the Miami rooting guide.
1 – Denver Broncos (9-2, AFC West leader)
2 – New England Patriots (9-2, AFC East leader)
3 – Indianapolis Colts (8-2, AFC South leader)
4 – Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4, AFC North leader)
5 – Los Angeles Chargers (7-4, Wildcard 1)
6 – Buffalo Bills* (7-4, Wildcard 2)
7 – Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4, Wildcard 3)
Houston Texans* (6-5)
Kansas City Chiefs (5-5)
Baltimore Ravens (5-5)
Miami Dolphins (4-7)
Cincinnati Bengals (3-7)
Las Vegas Raiders (2-8)
New York Jets (2-8)
Cleveland Browns (2-8)
Tennessee Titans (1-9)
*Week 12 Thursday night game already played
This hurts, but the Ravens are 5-5 on the season and in the 10th position, one ahead of Miami in the playoff standings. According to NFL.com, the Ravens have a 75 percent chance to make the playoffs if they win and a 55 percent chance if they lose. The Dolphins need that to drop to 55 percent, which means we have to do something no one ever wants to do.
Root for: Jets
This is pretty straightforward, and really serves as insurance over the Ravens making the playoffs above. The standard rule is to root for an NFC team to beat an AFC team, and that stands here. A Steelers loss pushes them to just 32 percent to make the postseason and would put the Ravens in a position to make the playoffs as the division winners and not take a wild card position. It feels like Miami can pass the Steelers in the wild-card hunt easier than it can a surging Ravens team.
Root for: Bears
This one is confusing. Wanting AFC East losses is the standard, but this might be the case where wanting a Patriots win makes more sense. Can Miami catch the 9-2 Patriots to win the division? Mathematically, yes, but realistically, no. The Bengals are just behind Miami in the standings, which could mean a loss would be better for the Dolphins, pushing Cincinnati further back. Miami hosts the Bengals in Week 16, so there is still a head-to-head matchup to factor into this. It almost feels like a coin toss, but I would rather keep Miami’s path to the postseason as uncluttered as possible.
Root for: Patriots
The Colts are in position to run away and hide with the AFC South...
