BALTIMORE — The Miami Dolphins have done themselves no favors.
Sunday’s 56-19 throttling at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens creates some dicey Dolphins playoff scenarios.
Miami’s Week 18 game against the Buffalo Bills is a division championship game, and it is now flexed to Sunday night’s national window on NBC.
Week 18 Miami Dolphins Playoff Scenarios
If the Dolphins beat the Bills, they win the AFC East, claim the conference’s No. 2 seed, and will host their Wild Card Round game against the No. 7.
Miami’s possible opponents in that game include the Bills (for the second time in as many weeks), the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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If they lose, they’re guaranteed the No. 6 seed and will open the postseason against the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead. The Dolphins lost 21-14 to the Chiefs in Germany earlier in the season.
The Dolphins-Bills matchup could be an elimination game for Buffalo. If the Steelers and Jaguars both win in Week 18, the only way the Bills could qualify as a Wild Card team is with a tie.
A win would make them division champions. A loss would bounce them from the field.
“We have a lot of people that have chips on their shoulders in general from people saying they can’t do X, Y, or Z,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “This is the time to lean into that. I’m firmly confident that guys are going to approach it the way I would hope. This has kind of become our standard, which is run from nothing.
“Own it. If you’re trying to do anything worthwhile, you have to assess, ‘Well it this hard?’ It is hard. That probably means this is your opportunity to separate yourself as a team and handle this in ways other teams wouldn’t.”
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