The Miami Dolphins are currently in the eighth position in the AFC playoff picture .

A win against the New England Patriots keeps the Dolphins in the playoff hunt Youth Jerome Baker Jersey , especially if they get the help they need. What help is that? We take a look at the Week 14 schedule and break down what needs to happen to help the Dolphins. New York Jets at Buffalo Bills, 1pm ETThis is a coin toss game at this point. The Dolphins have swept the Jets in their annual home-and-home meetings. Miami faces the Bills in Week 17 after having beaten them in the first half of the home-and-home in Week 13. The Bills are 4-8 this season while the Jets are 3-9, so we will take the sure bet in the strength of victory tie break as well as take the shot at getting further in front of the third-place spot of the division. By now, you should know I will never root for one of these teams, so instead...Root for: Bills loss.New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins, 1pm ETRoot for: Dolphins.Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs, 1pm ETThis game is really nice for the Dolphins. The Chiefs are currently the AFC’s top seed, one game ahead of the Patriots. The Ravens are currently the AFC’s sixth seed, holding on to the last Wildcard spot. The Chiefs holding the AFC’s top spot keeps the Patriots from having it, while a loss for the Ravens assists Miami in trying to make the playoffs. Root for: Chiefs.Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans, 1pm ETNow we start to get fun. In tie breaks Youth Ryan Tannehill Jersey , there are ways that three-or-more teams benefit the Dolphins. We will not get into those because between now and the end of the season, there are too many ways that things go both for and against Miami. We will continue to try to just get the Dolphins into the playoffs based solely on their results. That means Houston winning is better for the Dolphins because they lead the AFC South and a loss for the Colts pushes them to 6-7 and out of the tie with Miami. Root for: Texans.Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers, 4:05pmThis is an easy one. The 49ers are an NFC team that Miami did not/does not play this year, while the Broncos are 6-6 and tied with Miami in the AFC playoff picture. Root for the NFC team to win. Root for: 49ers.Cincinnati Bengals at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05pmCincinnati is a game behind Miami while the Chargers hold the fifth seed and top Wildcard spot in the AFC. That makes this a tough choice. Is it better to acquiesce that the Chargers will hold on to that Wildcard spot, or is it better the the Bengals drop further behind Miami? While opening both Wildcard spots to Miami makes sense, Miami lost the head-to-head meeting between the Dolphins and the Bengals, which makes any potential tie between the two clubs worrisome. Additional losses for Cincinnati is better for the Dolphins right now. Root for: Chargers. Pittsburgh Steelers at Oakland Raiders, 4:25pmThe only reason this is still in the listing is because the Ravens could reach the Steelers in the AFC North race, which would make Pittsburgh a Wildcard contender. The Steelers are 7-4-1 on the season, so a loss and a Dolphins win would still keep Miami a half-game back in the playoff standings White Jesse Davis Jersey , so just rooting for the Steelers to win the division makes sense. Root for: Steelers.Strength of victory and strength of schedule considerations:Los Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears, 8:20pm - Root for: BearsMinnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks, Monday 8:15pm - Root for: Minnesota (assuming Miami win in Week 15)Strength of schedule considerations:Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers, 1pm - Root for: PackersDetroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals, 4:25pm - Root for: LionsGames not considered (No Dolphins impact)New York Giants at Washington Redskins, 1pmNew Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1pmPhiladelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys, 4:25pmAFC Standings with rooting guide results:1 - AFC West leader - Kansas City Chiefs2 - AFC South leader - Houston Texans3 - AFC East leader - New England Patriots4 - AFC North leader - Pittsburgh Steelers5 - Wildcard - Los Angeles Chargers6 - Wildcard - Baltimore Ravens7 - Miami Dolphins8 - Tennessee Titans9 - Indianapolis Colts10 - Denver Broncos11 - Cincinnati Bengals12 - Cleveland Browns13 - Buffalo Bills14 - Jacksonville Jaguars15 - New York Jets16 - Oakland Raiders2018 NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Dolphins tumble in weekly roundup The Miami Dolphins took a beating on Sunday, losing to the New England Patriots 38-7. It was an embarrassment of a game for the South Florida franchise, especially when it could have given the team a 4-0 start for the first time since 1995 and a three-game lead in the AFC East after just four weeks. It felt like the Dolphins never got off the plane, with the Patriots punching them in the mouth from the start of the first quarter through to Brock Osweiler replacing Ryan Tannehill at quarterback in the fourth quarter as Miami signaled surrender. The 2018 NFL Power Rankings from around the web are not likely to be kind to the Dolphins http://www.authenticsmiamidolphins.com/cheap-akeem-spence-jersey , even as they hold on to their one-game lead in the AFC East heading into Week 5. Sign up HERE to take our weekly Dolphins survey.Below, you will find the Week 5 power rankings for the Dolphins, along with the change from last week and any write up if there was one. At the bottom of the page, we take a look at the highest single week and average ranking for Miami this year, as well as the lowest for both of those.SB Nation - Rebecca TobackThis week: 13Change: Down 8Niners Nation - David FucilloThis week: 10Change: Down 6Bleeding Green Nation - Brandon Lee GowtonThis week: 16Change: Down 12Who would’ve guessed the Dolphins were fraudulent? Just about everyone. Yup. Not like I had them high my power rankings last week.NFL.com - Elliot HarrisonThis week: 17Change: Down 7Uh ... OK ... How to start this blurb ... Dolphins fans have been all over your friendly writer for picking against them. (I have twice: at the Jets in Week 2, and this past Sunday in Foxborough.) Bottom line: If the Fins belong among the elite, the top five, then they have to do better than being down 38-zip in the fourth quarter, giving Brock Osweiler some snaps. That 172 spot the offense posted in the “Total Yards” box was putrid -- especially coming against a defense that stunk in Detroit one week prior. Flipper would have been pissed.ESPNThis week: 14Change: Down 6Rookie snaps leader: DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, 230 snaps out of 279 (82.4 percent). When Fitzpatrick is not on the field, Dolphins opponents complete 71 percent of their passes http://www.authenticsmiamidolphins.com/cheap-josh-sitton-jersey , compared with 61 percent with him on the field. -- Joey KoontzCBS Sports - Pete PriscoThis week: 12Change: Down 8Which team are they? The one that opened 3-1 or the one that got blown out by the Patriots last week? We’ll know after they play the Bengals this week.Yahoo! Sports - Frank SchwabThis week: 16Change: Down 7I didn’t want to put the Dolphins even as high as ninth last week, but you can’t justify putting one of three 3-0 teams too low. But if you want comedy, remember that the Dolphins were trailing 38-0 with less than 100 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter, and then look how mad the Dolphins fans were last week when I said I didn’t think they weren’t a top-five NFL team. Funny stuff.Sporting News - Vinnie IyerThis week: 16Change: Down 10The Dolphins saw their undefeated run end quickly in New England. We’re back to more head-scratching with Adam Gase.USA Today - Nate DavisThis week: 18Change: Down 9 To quote George Bush 43: “Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” You owe us the apology, Miami.Bleacher Report - NFL StaffThis week: 21Change: Down 1Despite their 3-0 record, the Miami Dolphins didn’t get a ton of respect from the analysts here at Bleacher Report last week—the team barely made it inside the top 20 in these rankings.As it turns out, the fellas were on to something.Presented with the opportunity to open an unthinkable three-game lead over the Patriots in the AFC East, the Dolphins laid a big fat egg at Gillette Stadium. The Dolphins got blasted. Waxed. Embarrassed in every way imaginable.Name a category, and the Dolphins were dominated in it. The team was outgained 449-172 and lost the time-of-possession battle by almost 13 minutes. Miami’s pass rush couldn’t get close to Tom Brady, and the ‘Fins spotted New England a 24-0 lead at intermission.Ryan Tannehill was 11-of-20 for just 100 yards. His 10 drives under center resulted in seven punts Youth Kenny Stills Jersey , two turnovers and the end of the half. None of those drives were longer than five plays.About the only thing the Dolphins had more of than the Patriots was penalties—10 for 89 yards.As Gagnon said, it was a sobering reality check.”That dud performance in New England was a stark reminder that the Dolphins are still a bridesmaid at best in the AFC East,” he said. “Their reputation was inflated by three one-score victories over beatable teams, with two of those wins coming at home. We were reminded on Sunday that this is a team that was so-so even before losing/waving goodbye to its best offensive player in Jarvis Landry and its best defensive player in Ndamukong Suh.”The Washington Post - Mark MaskeThis week: 15Change: Down 7Never make too much of one game. But in this case, it’s tough to avoid believing the Dolphins might have been exposed as AFC East pretenders rather than contenders on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.Sports Illustrated/MMQB - MMQB StaffThis week: 18Change: Down 9Welp.Fansided - Matt VerderameThis week: 18Change: Down 2Oh dear God, what was that?2018 SeasonChange in average from last week: Down 6.7Highest Weekly Ranking: Week 4 - Niners Nation / Bleeding Green Nation / CBS Sports - 4Highest Average Ranking: Week 4 - 9.0Lowest Weekly Ranking: Week 1 - ESPN - 32Lowest Average Ranking: Week 1 - 27.3Week 1 Average: 27.3Week 2 Average: 21.7Week 3 Average: 16.1Week 4 Average: 9.0Week 5 Average: 15.7