Dolphins 2024 Week 14 Rooting Guide

The Miami Dolphins' hopes for a playoff push this season took a hit with their 30-17 loss against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving night, but that doesn't mean the door has been shut.

The Dolphins are 5-7 heading into their final five games: at home against the New York Jets, at Houston, at home against San Francisco, at Cleveland, and at the Jets.

THE DOLPHINS AND THE AFC STANDINGS

The Dolphins currently are ninth in the AFC standings, two games behind the Denver Broncos in the loss column and half a game behind the Indianapolis Colts, who also have seven losses but have one more win than Miami.

As has been the case for a few weeks now, it still appears we're looking at four tiers of AFC teams, with the Kansas City Chief and Buffalo Bills having already clinched a playoff spot and the Pittsburgh Stelers soon to follow at 9-3.

Then we have the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos all with eight wins and looking in good shape.

Three teams — the New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders — already have been eliminated from playoff contention, and the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns are soon to follow. The Cincinnati Bengals might have a shot, but they will have to win out after dropping to 4-8 last weekend.

This leaves the Dolphins, Colts and maybe Bengals needing a major run down the stretch to make it to the top seven.

The Dolphins practically no help last weekend when Indianapolis won at New England, the Chargers won at Atlanta and Denver defeated Cleveland in the Monday night game, and they won't get much help this weekend, either, but for a different reason: It's the last weekend of byes in the NFL, and they involve a lot of those AFC teams in playoff contention.

Of the six teams with a bye this weekend, four are among the AFC playoff contenders: Baltimore, Houston, Denver and Indianapolis.

THE TEAMS THE DOLPHINS MOST WANT TO SEE WIN IN WEEK 14

Kansas City (vs. L.A. Chargers), Sunday, 8:20 PM ET

The Chiefs will clinch the AFC West title for a ninth consecutive season with a win in this game, but more importantly that would give the Chargers their sixth loss.

Dallas (vs. Cincinnati), Monday, 8:15 PM ET

The biggest appeal of this game from a national perspective is the Simpsons theme, but another loss would remove the Bengals as a potential obstacle for the Dolphins once and for all.

Cleveland (at Pittsburgh), Sunday, 1 PM ET

Not that we expect the Steelers to collapse and miss the playoffs, but the Browns defeating Pittsburgh for a second time in three weeks still would help the Dolphins.

THE OTHER GAME WITH A SLIGHT PREFERENCE (BUT NO BIGGIE)

Jacksonville (at Tennessee), Sunday, 1 PM ET

We're bothering with this one strictly because the Titans haven't yet officially been eliminated from playoff contention, though it appears to be a formality at this point.

WEEK 14 GAMES OF NO CONSEQUENCE TO THE DOLPHINS

These are games for Dolphins fans to watch for pure enjoyment or fantasy football because they don't involve Miami-related playoff implications.

But here's the rest of the Week 14 Sunday slate, in the interest of thoroughness:

Atlanta at Minnesota, Sunday, 1 PM ET
New Orleans at N.Y. Giants, Sunday, 1 PM ET
Carolina at Philadelphia, 1 PM ET
Las Vegas at Tampa Bay, 1 PM ET
Seattle at Arizona, 4 PM ET
Buffalo at L.A. Rams, Sunday, 4:25 PM ET
Chicago at San Francisco, Sunday, 4:25 PM ET

Additional reading:

-- Chop Robinson ready to face college buddy

-- Dolphins-Jets Week 14 complete game preview

-- Dolphins OC tackles short-yardage issues