Dwork On Sports: Dolphins Win Over Eagles Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive
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Welcome to the Dwork On Sports blog. This is a place where I'll cover all things related to South Florida sports, with a steady combination of facts and opinions while ultimately keeping a close eye on anything and everything related to our local teams.
It may have only been a Week 10 game for the Miami Dolphins but their five-loss record left the team in desperate need of a victory.
While winning the AFC East is about as farfetched as you can get at this point considering the undefeated Patriots have a strangle hold on first place and Miami's 0-4 division record, the playoffs are not out of the Dolphins reach.
Sunday's win over the Eagles keeps Miami in the AFC Wild Cart hunt with a favorable schedule over the final seven games of the season.
Miami will play five of their final seven games at home, which include games against the two-win Cowboys, the two-win Ravens, the four win Colts and five-win Giants. The Dolphins final two road games are against the Jets (5-4) and Chargers (2-7).
Leaving out the Patriots, who Miami hosts on the final weekend of the season, the record of the Dolphins next six opponents are a combined 20-35 with the Jets representing the only team with an above .500 record.
Currently the two AFC Wild Card spots belong to five seed Pittsburgh (6-4) and six seed Buffalo (5-4). The Bills and Jets have the same record but Buffalo's win over the Jets on Thursday gives them the head-to-head tiebreak advantage.
At the moment the Dolphins sit in tenth place in the AFC. Kansas City and Oakland are both tied with Miami at 4-5 but due to the Fins poor conference record (2-5) they'll likely have to finish with a better record than any team competing with them for a Wild Card spot.
Bottom line, the Dolphins will have to take advantage of their light schedule to remain involved in the playoff hunt.
That starts on Sunday when Miami hosts the Cowboys, who are expected to get Tony Romo back in the lineup after a seven game absence in which Dallas has lost every game.
The Cowboys are averaging just 17.0 points per game in the seven they've played without Romo and a meager 14.2 in their last five.
Be sure to check out our FinsOn4 Live Dolphins Blog where we will be posting season-long coverage, updates, photos, video, commentary and more throughout the entire 2015 season.
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