Anyone watching SportsCenter on Tuesday morning was likely confused. Or, as the case may be, more confused than usual.
Anchor Neil Everett said that the Dolphins will qualify for the playoffs with two wins and a Ravens loss. He then threw it to James Walker, who submitted a report on the team’s win over the Patriots and said that Miami controls its “playoff destiny.”
Verrette then tagged Walker’s comments by saying that the Dolphins need help to get in to the postseason field.
They don’t.
If the 8-6 Dolphins beat the Bills and the Jets, they’ll finish 10-6. Yes, a pair of Ravens wins would mean Baltimore also will be 10-6, which would bad news for Miami because the Ravens hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
But here’s the catch. If the Ravens finish 10-6, they’ll definitely win the AFC North. And the Dolphins then would take the No. 6 seed from the Bengals, who’d be 10-6 at best.
Any tie between Miami and Cincinnati would be broken by the Halloween night overtime win by Miami over the Bengals.
It gets much more complicated for Miami if they lose one of their last two games. If they win their last two games (and they should), it’s as simple as it can be. The Dolphins would be the No. 6 seed, and Joe Philbin would be a viable candidate for coach of the year.