After the Miami Dolphins got off to a 1-4 start, fans started thinking more about their 2017 draft position than possibly making the playoffs. Well, after winning nine out of their last 10 games, the Dolphins have officially qualified for the postseason.
Miami clinched a trip to the playoffs after the Kansas City Chiefs blew out the Denver Broncos 33-10 on Sunday Night Football. At 10-5, the Dolphins are currently the sixth seed in the AFC, but that could change depending on the outcome of the Chiefs game against the San Diego Chargers in Week 17.
If Kansas City were to lose to the Chargers and Miami were to defeat the New England Patriots, then the Dolphins would move up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC. That would set up a matchup with the No 4 seed Houston Texans in the AFC Wild-Card Round.
If Miami were to remain at the No. 6 seed, they would play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round. In the game that started the Dolphins run of sixth straight wins, they defeated the Steelers 30-15 back in October.
Making the playoffs is an excellent surprise for the Dolphins fans. Miami finished 6-10 last season and the team hadn’t posted a winning season since 2008 when the Dolphins last won the AFC East.
In his first season, head coach Adam Gase has completely turned around the Dolphins culture and has the team believing they can win any game on their schedule.
Miami last playoff victory came in the 2000 season when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 in overtime.
Backup Matt Moore will likely be the Dolphins starting quarterback in the team’s opening playoff game. Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill sprained his ACL and MCL in the Dolphins December 11 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Miami hasn’t ruled out Tannehill for the rest of the season and has been mum on if he can return for the playoffs.
In his two starts for Tannehill, Moore has thrown for 469 yards, six touchdowns against two interceptions. Moore has a quarterback rating of 113.4 this season.
One of the long-time leaders of the Dolphins will finally get an opportunity to play in his first playoff game in his career. When Cameron Wake arrived in Miami in 2009, the team was coming off a playoff appearance and a division title. Since then, the Dolphins best regular season has been 8-8 (in 2013 and 2014).
At age 34 and coming off an Achilles injury he suffered in 2015 that limited him to seven games, Wake has 11.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and an interception in 15 games in 2016. Even though he will never admit it to the media, Wake is likely ecstatic to make it to the playoffs for the first time.
