The Dolphins and Patriots are just under 24 hours away from their week 15 kickoff tomorrow afternoon. This is a must win game for Miami. As I wrote earlier this week, everybody is down on this team right now, and tomorrow is their last chance to salvage this season.
On the injury front, there's good news and bad news for Miami.
The good news first: It appears both Jamar Taylor and Cortland Finnegan will return tomorrow and provide much, MUCH needed help to a secondary that's already missing Louis Delmas. Finnegan hasn't played since the Detroit game a month ago, while Taylor hasn't played since Denver.
TE Charles Clay, who's battled a knee injury all year long, is also expected to play.
Now, the bad news, which, unfortunately, overshadows the good..
Both Koa Misi and Jelani Jenkins are listed as doubtful and are not expected to play. For the Dolphins this could not have come at a worse time, as Jenkins is by far this team's best coverage linebacker. Kevin Coyle is now going to have to come up with another way to defend Rob Gronkowski with him out, and I'm not sure what the answer is here.
Reshad Jones is an option.. Dion Jordan is an option. But those are two worrisome options, folks. If Bill Belichick schemes the way I know he will, then expect a lot of Rob Gronkowski coverage mismatches tomorrow.
WEEK 15 VIEWER GUIDE
Last week's loss was a backbreaker, and there's no way around that. However, if Miami can somehow, someway pull of the upset here then the Dolphins will be right back in the thick of the wild card race.
The best scenario, and the most likely, for Miami to regain control of the sixth seed is this:
A MIA win + PITT LOSS + HOU LOSS + CIN LOSS + SD LOSS.
Seems unlikely, right? Well, not exactly. In fact, the most grim possibility there is Miami actually winning, because most of the other scenarios are very plausible. Why? Well, here's a look at the opponents:
Pittsburgh @ Atlanta (CBS, 1:05): The Falcons are coming off a hard fought loss in Green Bay, but still remain tied for the NFC South lead. They're at home and facing an inconsistent Steelers team that's coming off an impressive win on the road. This one's a toss up, but the Dolphins badly need a Falcons win.
Raiders @ Chiefs (1:05, CBS): Kansas City is in the middle of the meltdown I predicted they'd be in week ago, however, they get a reprieve this week with the Raiders. A Chiefs loss would end any playoff hopes they have, just like a Miami loss would, so expect them to get it done here.
Texans @ Colts (1:05, CBS): Houston has snuck up on some people in the past month and remain in the wild card chase. In fact, this is one of the game's Miami needs to go in their favor tomorrow, as a Houston win, coupled with a couple other things happening, could vault them into that sixth seed. I don't see them going into Indianapolis and winning, though, so expect this game to go Miami's way.
Jaguars @ Ravens (1:05, CBS): Baltimore is in a great spot right now with their schedule the rest of the way. Don't be surprised to see them win out. Root for the Jaguars in a miracle here.
Packers @ Bills (1:05, FOX): Buffalo is another one of those teams hanging around, however, this should end tomorrow.
Bengals @ Browns (1:05, FOX): If Johnny Football can help out the Dolphins any possible way, beating the Bengals would be a good place to start. This is a huge game to monitor tomorrow if Miami can do their part.
Broncos @ Chargers (4:05, CBS): The Chargers are a game up on Miami right now, but they are in the midst of a brutal stretch of games. A loss here would be huge.
As you can see, while some of the scenarios may not play out, a lot of them are very likely. But it all doesn't matter if Miami loses.
If this team wants to vault back into contention, they need to win and not worry about everything else. Winning puts them right back in the discussion with two games remaining, even more so considering the end of seasons schedule's for a lot of these teams compared to Miami's.
But a loss would all but end the Dolphins' playoff hopes, and, effectively, probably end these viewer guides as well.
So yeah, there's a lot at stake tomorrow, but if I'm watching these games tomorrow, the only two things I hope for is this..
A Miami win and either a Baltimore loss or a Pittsburgh loss. If that somehow happens then it's a race to the finish for the last two weeks.
Picks and predictions coming up.
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