Dolphins finale time set. And Dolphins eliminated from playoff contention
12:30 a.m. Monday update: The Dolphins’ regular-season finale against the New England Patriots has been set for 4:25 p.m. Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Dolphins have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, and the Patriots have clinched a playoff berth.
Here’s the full Week 18 schedule.
DOLPHINS ELIMINATED
Everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Dolphins on Sunday.
As a result, Miami was eliminated from playoff contention, something that became official with the Los Angeles Chargers’ drubbing of the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
The Dolphins’ 34-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans - combined with three other results on Sunday - left the Dolphins’ playoff chances at zero.
The Dolphins could have definitely remained mathematically alive for at least another day - and potentially into Week 18 - if the Colts had beaten the Raiders or if the Jaguars had beaten New England or if Denver had beaten the Chargers.
None of those three things happened.
Las Vegas beat the Colts with a field goal as time expired, 23-20.
New England’s 50-10 win against Jacksonville also hurt Miami’s chances of remaining alive for a playoff berth.
And then the Chargers drubbed Denver, 34-13.
If the Chargers had lost to Denver, Miami would have had a 10 percent chance of making the playoffs, per fivethirtyeight.com.
But even if the Chargers had lost late Sunday afternoon, Miami would have needed four things to make the playoffs: A Miami win against New England; and a Cincinnati win at Cleveland; and a Chargers win at Las Vegas; and a Cleveland win at Pittsburgh Monday night; and a Pittsburgh win at Baltimore next Sunday.
Instead, the Dolphins’ Sunday finale against New England won’t mean anything to Miami from a playoff standpoint.
The Dolphins (8-8) entered Sunday guaranteed of a playoff spot if they won their final two games.
The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since a wild-card win against the Colts in December 2000.
This story was originally published January 2, 2022 at 4:15 PM.
