A tanker’s guide to Week 16: Miami Dolphins fans should root for these teams to win
With two games left in the Dolphins’ season, there’s still a remarkable amount of uncertainty regarding their draft positioning.
The Dolphins, tied with the Redskins and Giants at 3-11 entering Sunday’s action, could pick anywhere from first to ninth next April.
But the most likely range, as it has been for weeks, is somewhere between 3 and 5.
And by midnight Monday, the all-important strength of schedule tiebreaker (the weaker, the better) will be all but decided. That’s because every Week 17 game is a divisional matchup.
So if the Dolphins hold anything more than two-game inverse strength-of-schedule edge on the Redskins (whom Miami currently “leads” by 1 game) or the Giants (whom they “trail” by 4 1/2 games and almost certainly will not catch), they will have clinched the tiebreaker.
Translated into English: the Dolphins, with a loss, a Giants win and some help elsewhere, could ensure themselves the No. 2 pick in the draft simply by losing to the Patriots as a massive underdog in Week 17 — which New England is treating as a playoff game.
If the Dolphins lose and the Redskins win, the Dolphins would would likely be locked into the No. 3 pick — again, barring a huge upset in Foxboro.
Of course, a Dolphins win Sunday would be hugely damaging. They would have to root for a Lions win over the Broncos, or risk dropping to fifth. Again, given the Dolphins’ Week 17 opponent, it’s tough to see them slipping any further than that, but it’s technically possible.
A Dolphins loss and a Broncos win Sunday would guarantee the Dolphins pick no worse than fourth overall.
Because we’re nerds, we broke down Week 16’s remaining schedule, and have determined for whom Dolphins fans should root Sunday and Monday.
Beyond the obvious — the Bengals, Giants and Lions — wins by these teams would be helpful for Miami this weekend: Steelers vs. Jets; Panthers vs. Colts; Raiders vs. Chargers; Cardinals vs. Seahawks; and Bears vs. Chiefs.
In truth, a Steelers win would both help and hurt the Dolphins. It would increase Pittsburgh’s odds of making the playoffs, thus hurting the first-round pick the Steelers traded to Miami for Minkah Fitzpatrick.
▪ Defensive ends Charles Harris and Taco Charlton are both scratches Sunday against the Bengals. The Dolphins’ other inactives: fullback Chandler Cox, tackle J’Marcus Webb, guard/center Keaton Sutherland, guard/center Evan Boehm and defensive end Avery Moss.
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 11:50 AM.
