The Miami Dolphins’ 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans likely ended the team’s playoff hopes.
The setback dropped the Dolphins to 6-8 on the year and both the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos improved to 9-5. The only saving grace for Miami is that both the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts lost Sunday.
With all the AFC results from Week 15 now in the books, here are the conference standings with three weeks left in the regular season:
- Kansas City Chiefs: 13-1
- Buffalo Bills: 11-3
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 10-4
- Houston Texans: 9-5
- Baltimore Ravens: 9-5
- Denver Broncos: 9-5
- Los Angeles Chargers: 8-6
- Indianapolis Colts: 6-8
- Miami Dolphins: 6-8
- Cincinnati Bengals: 6-8
For the Dolphins, it’s pretty simple now: one more loss will almost certainly eliminate them from playoff contention.
If Miami wins out by beating the 49ers, Browns, and Jets to get to 9-8, they’d own a tiebreaker against any teams other than the Texans and Colts. That means the Dolphins need Indianapolis to lose at least once in the final three weeks against the Titans, Giants, and/or Jaguars.
But the real long shot is that the Dolphins need either the Ravens or Broncos to lose out, or the Chargers to lose two of their last three. Baltimore finishes the year against the Steelers, Texans, and Browns, Denver faces the Chargers, Bengals, and Chiefs, and the Chargers end the year with the Broncos, Patriots, and Raiders.
The odds of any of that coming to fruition and the Dolphins playing in the postseason? NFL.com puts it at about a six percent chance.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]