(Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/TNS)David Furones, South Florida Sun-SentinelMon, December 1, 2025 at 9:17 PM UTC·4 min readMIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins have won three consecutive games and four of the last five after squeaking by the New Orleans Saints, 21-17.
They completed an undefeated November (3-0), aided by their last loss being a Thursday nighter on Oct. 30 instead of Week 9’s Sunday, Nov. 2 while also having their bye week within the month.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMost NFL teams winning at this clip crossing over into December would be firmly in the playoff race.
But the Dolphins, at 5-7, are still three games back of a playoff spot with five weeks remaining. So is life when starting a season 1-6 and must rely on contenders to lose down the stretch to creep back into the mix.
Depending on the network, some TV coverage is putting the Dolphins “in the hunt” for a wild-card spot. It’s not a very likely hunt for Miami to win, however, after Sunday’s results around the Dolphins’ win at Hard Rock Stadium didn’t offer much in terms of help.
Wins from the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans were all detrimental to their odds. The Jaguars, Chargers and Bills are all 8-4 and in the playoffs, along with the 8-4 Indianapolis Colts. Between the Dolphins and those teams are the Texans (7-5), Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6) and Kansas City Chiefs (6-6)
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMiami’s playoff chances are less than 1 percent, according to The Athletic’s playoff predictor. The Dolphins need to win out to get to 10-7 to improve that percentage. And even then, The Athletic’s model still only says it’s 14 percent Miami gets in by winning its remaining games. That’s down from 26 percent after Thursday’s helpful Chiefs loss, so it wasn’t a good Sunday for the Dolphins’ odds.
As cornerback Rasul Douglas quipped Friday when asked about potentially being in the hunt: “In the hunt of what?”
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Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s objective remains to block out any thought of it.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I told the players (Monday), if family members want to talk about a game after this or where you are in the hunt, put some headphones on,” McDaniel said Monday. “It doesn’t do anything for you, and there’s so much season that can occur and there’s so many different things that take place.”
So the focus must be on visiting the New York Jets (3-9) on Sunday.
“I just want them to trust me that we beat the next opponent and that’s the only thing that matters,” McDaniel said. “If you’re not mathematically eliminated, the best thing to do is worry about your game, beating the next opponent. It doesn’t matter where we’re at if we’re a little less concerned about the next opponent and more pumped up that we’re not mathematically eliminated. We’re not. We have seven losses, and we have one opponent that we can affect.
I don’t like talking about all of that stuff simply because it waters down your focus.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“If your focus isn’t entirely on that one opponent, you’re going to end up in the land of regret and would’ve, could’ve should’ve.”
Dolphins players, starting with veteran leaders, relay that mindset.
“I’m not worried about what we just did this past week or what’s in the future,” center Aaron Brewer said. “Because those two things, I can’t control. It’s what’s going on right now in the present, this week, and controlling what we can control. We do that each and every week, ain’t no telling what we can be.”
The message gets down to the rookies. Defensive tackle Kenneth Grant says he’s not big on social media. He becomes aware of the current standings when he watches football and they’re shown on the screen but tries not to let it affect his preparation or approach.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’re just always focused on the next game, what we can do and what we can control,” he said.
Added wide receiver Jaylen Waddle: “It’s just the NFL. You got to take it week by week. No game is guaranteed. Just go and handle our next opponent, our next day of prep.”
Following the Jets, the Dolphins visit the Steelers, host the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and finish in New England against the Patriots.
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