The Miami Dolphins have seemingly done the impossible.
After a rough, 2-7 start to the season, the Dolphins have put together back-to-back wins for the first time in 2025, even beating the Buffalo Bills for the first time in more than three years. The consecutive victories not only injected a sense of pride into the fan base but might have honestly saved coach Mike McDaniel’s job. One, however, big question remains: does Miami have enough to sneak into the playoffs?
“We’re going to have our meetings and whatnot, see and figure out how we can continue to keep the momentum going through the bye week,” Tua Tagovailoa said.
The first step, as Tagovailoa mentioned, will be to harness the momentum. A win steak can be difficult to built in the NFL – especially for a team as down in the doldrums as the Dolphins had been – yet somehow, they not only managed to beat the Bills but subsequently carry over that energy to Madrid and win an ugly, 16-13 game over the Washington Commanders.
“It was almost better that it was far from being the cleanest game,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “You need to win games that are one-score games that go down to the wire because you need to be able to perform down the wire if you’re going to succeed.”
Realistically, the Dolphins will have to go undefeated over their final stretch of six games to have the best shot at the postseason. That, of course, is a tall task. A 5-1 record, however, will put the Dolphins above .500 and could still give the team a shot at the playoffs even if it’s only a slight chance.
Miami’s first test out of the bye will be the lowly New Orleans Saints. At 2-8 and with a rookie signal caller in Tyler Shough at the helm, the Saints have been rather lackluster in 2025, having only beat the New York Giants and, most recently, Carolina Panthers. As long as the Dolphins don’t play down to their competition, this should be a win.
The same goes for Miami’s following matchup against the 2-8 New York Jets; there’s no reason that the Dolphins should lose this game. Having dealt away their best talent at the trade deadline in cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, the Jets will not be the same team that the Dolphins defeated 27-21. In fact, the Jets won’t even have the same quarterback as Justin Fields was recently benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor.
Although the cold weather will certainly be a factor against the Jets, the talent disparity works in Miami’s favor and the Dolphins will have a chance to dispel that narrative. Where the temperature will be the biggest factor, however, will be in the Dolphins’ subsequent Week 14 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only will it likely be colder, Miami will face a team that historically plays hard, something that usually doesn’t work in the Dolphins’ favor.
The good news for Dolphins fans: it’s unclear whether Aaron Rodgers plays after he broke his wrist during last Sunday’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. While the Steelers will have two former Dolphins in Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith that could provide some basic insight on Miami’s coaching tendencies, it might all be for naught if Mason Rudolph starts at quarterback.
Another test will await the Dolphins upon their return from the Steel City: the Cincinnati Bengals. And while Joe Flacco has seemingly turned back the clock with his play, throwing 12 touchdowns and just three picks over his five-game stint with the Bengals, Joe Burrow will likely have returned from his turf toe injury that has held him out since Week 2. Cincinnati could also be in the playoff hunt around that time as well, making the Week 16, prime time matchup a must-watch.
The cross-state foe in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will sail into town the next week. Although Baker Mayfield had the Buccaneers at 6-2 over the first eight games of the season, they have since dropped back-to-back and have been hit with injuries to critical players like Mike Evans. Tampa Bay could get back on track in time for their Miami matchup or could totally wilt but then. Either way, the Buccaneers play a similar brand of football to the Steelers in that they pride themselves on their toughness.
Miami will end its season just outside of Boston when they face the New England Patriots, one of the NFL’s hottest teams. Despite a 9-2 record, the Patriots have only beat two teams above .500 in the Bills and Buccaneers. New England also needed a kick return touchdown and a poorly-timed, fourth quarter Tagovailoa interception to beat the Dolphins 33-27 in Week 2.