Dolphins and Complete AFC Playoff Picture

Things are very simple for the Miami Dolphins as they head into their regular season against the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium.

They will make the playoffs if they defeat the Jets AND the New England Patriots lose against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in another 1 p.m. ET game.

What's also been assured is that the Dolphins' first-round opponent can only be the Bills because a Buffalo victory will give them the second seed in the AFC and the Dolphins can't make the playoffs without Buffalo defeating New England .

The final AFC playoff berth will go to New England, Miami or Pittsburgh, and the Patriots are the only one of the three that does not need help to make the playoffs and actually could get in even after losing.

Pittsburgh can get in with a victory against Cleveland and losses by Miami and New England, but the Patriots get the seventh seed if all three teams lose.

Buffalo lost any shot at landing the top seed in the AFC with the Kansas City Chiefs' 31-13 victory at Las Vegas on Sunday night, but still has plenty at stake against New England.

A victory would give the Bills the second seed and put a potential AFC Championship Game matchup with Kansas City at a neutral site instead of Arrowhead Stadium if they lose against the Patriots on Sunday.

A win also would give Buffalo the No. 2 seed, assuring the Bills of home-field advantage in a potential second-round matchup with Cincinnati.

If Cincinnati defeats Baltimore and Buffalo loses against New England, the Bengals would earn the No. 2 seed and host a potential second-round matchup against Buffalo.

The other playoff scenario at play is what happens if Baltimore defeats Cincinnati and the L.A. Chargers defeat the Denver Broncos, which would leave the Bengals as the No. 3 seed and Baltimore as the No. 6 seed but result in a coin toss to determine which team would have home-field advantage in their first-round matchup — because the Ravens would finish half a game behind the Bengals but have the season sweep.

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FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM

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DOLPHINS PLAYOFF HISTORY AGAINST BUFFALO

A matchup against Buffalo would make the Bills the Dolphins' most common playoff opponent.

The teams already have faced each other four times in the playoffs, with Buffalo winning three of those.

The Bills won in Buffalo in the divisional round in 1990, 44-34; in Miami in the AFC Championship Game in 1992, 29-10; and in Buffalo in the AFC wild-card round in 1995, 37-22.

The Dolphins won in Miami in the first round in 1998, 24-17.

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