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.
AFC playoff picture (through Thursday Week 12)
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
NFL Wee 12 Miami Dolphins rooting guide
New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
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
Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Bears
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
New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals
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
Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs
The Colts are in position to run away and hide with the AFC South championship this year, while the Chiefs are stumbling around and on the outside of the postseason right now. Miami needs to pass Kansas City if they are going to make the improbable playoff run, making this an easy choice.
Root for: Colts
Seattle Seahawks at Tennessee Titans
This game really does not have any impact on Miami’s playoff chances, but we include it in the rooting guide because it still features an AFC team. We will use the NFC vs. AFC rule here to give the nod to Seattle.
Root for: Seahawks
Jacksonville Jaguars at Arizona Cardinals
One of these teams is holding the final AFC wildcard position. One of them is in the NFC. Pretty easy.
Root for: Cardinals
Cleveland Browns at Las Vegas Raiders
Both teams are 2-8 and behind Miami in the AFC playoff picture. The Raiders are closer, sitting in 13th compared to the Browns in 15th, but that is just tiebreaks – and could be switched based on the results on Sunday. There really is not much this game does, but we will give Cleveland the nod in quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ first start, just so Miami’s strength of schedule is a little better.
Root for: Browns
NFC vs. NFC games
New York Giants at Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Rams
Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers
These games have minimal impact on Miami’s playoff chances. If you want to consider strength of schedule, the Buccaneers and the Panthers winning would help Miami.
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