Final NFL Week 10 Observations ... With Miami Dolphins Angles

The Miami Dolphins find themselves in the middle of an AFC playoff race that looks like it's going to be a wild one

We're barely past the halfway mark of the 2020 season, and it's already looking like it's going to be quite the race for playoffs spots in the AFC.

The Miami Dolphins, of course, have put themselves right in the thick of that race with their five-game winning streak and they occupied the sixth spot in the conference standings heading into the final seven weeks of the regular season.

More than half the AFC stands at 6-3 or better at the moment, which means that two of those teams will be left out of the playoffs — or one if the NFL can't complete the full 16-game schedule because of COVID-19 considerations.

After that first group lurk the New England Patriots, who pulled out an impressive Sunday night victory against the Baltimore Ravens and can't be counted out just yet even at 4-5 because, well, they're the New England Patriots.

There's some new teams involved in the playoff race, along with the Dolphins, and that always makes things interesting.

Those that come to mind quickly are the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders, who the Dolphins will face in Week 16 in a game we highly suspect could end up being selected for the Saturday night slot among the five listed as TBD.

The Raiders and Browns both are built for December success thanks to solid running games left by Josh Jacobs and Nick Chubb, respectively.

-- Speaking of Chubb, you have to wonder how many fantasy football players were affected by his decision to step out of bounds at the 1-yard line after breaking loose for a long game-clinching run against the Houston Texans. It was, of course, the right move because the Browns then only had to kneel to end the game, though it's not likely a touchdown that would have made it 17-7 would have come back to haunt them. Though you never know.

-- Speaking of the Texans, the loss moved them to 2-7 and they currently have — or should we say the Dolphins — the sixth pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Looking ahead, the Texans play host to New England on Sunday and only three of their final seven games are against teams with the winning record (twice against the Colts and once against Tennessee).

-- Back to New England for a second, wide receiver Isaiah Ford made his debut with the Patriots on Sunday night ... well, sort of. Ford was active and in uniform for the first time since the Dolphins traded him for a 2022 conditional sixth-round pick but he did not play a snap either on offense or special teams. This is noteworthy because some Dolphins fans thought the team made a mistake in trading him (particularly after Preston Williams ended up on IR), though the reality is that Ford is simply not an impact player. And for those who'd suggest that maybe he just hadn't been with the Patriots long enough to contribute in his first game, then why was he not simply inactive?

-- The Tennessee Titans are among the teams at 6-3, but they've lost three of four and while Ryan Tannehill's passer rating has stayed very good, his numbers have gone way down. He failed to pass for at least 160 yards in each of the past two games, a defense-led victory against Chicago and the Thursday night loss last week against the Colts. On one hand, maybe defenses have figured how to stop the Titans passing game; on the other, the Bears and Colts have two of the best defenses in the NFL.

-- The NFC East remains remarkably bad, but we can't say it's not a close race for the top spot after the Giants' victory against the Eagles. Incredible to think that Dallas and Washington are only a game and a half out of first place despite having 2-7 records. Amazing!

-- Finally, we leave with some thoughts on the team the Dolphins will be battling for the AFC East title, the Buffalo Bills, who went into their bye after a disheartening loss against Arizona on the "Hail Murray" touchdown pass from Kyler Murray to DeAndre Hopkins. Interesting to note that Hopkins not only beat three defenders to make the catch in the end zone, he beat three of Buffalo's best defenders — All-Pro cornerback Tre'Davious White, one-time Pro Bowl safety Micah Hyde and talented safety Jordan Poyer. Ouch! We mentioned earlier the running game of both the Browns and the Raiders; the Bills have little running game right now. Against Arizona, Zack Moss and Devin Singletary combined for 11 carries for 35 yards. That's going to become a problem for Buffalo down the stretch. Finally, Josh Allen had a remarkable touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs in the final minute that should have been the game-winner, but he also threw two interceptions.