• Miami -- Current position: AFC’s 6th seed -- The Dolphins’ gritty 16-13 comeback road win against the feeble Jets on Monday night was literally a season-saver. Miami would have been toast at 6-6, but the victory vaulted it all the way from the 11th seed in the AFC to the lucky No. 6 spot, where, thanks to the intricacies of the NFL’s three-way tiebreaker rules, they somehow replaced a Chiefs team that soundly beat the Dolphins in South Florida in Week 3. Go figure.
The good news is Miami is starting to break new ground, with five wins in its past seven games, and its first winning mark at the start of December since 2008, when the Dolphins were also 7-5 en route to an 11-5, AFC East-winning season -- their most recent playoff trip. The bad news is, with a home game against fellow 7-5 Baltimore on tap this week, then a trip to top-seeded New England in Week 15, the Dolphins haven’t accomplished anything yet. If they can at least split their next two games, then beat both the Vikings (5-7) and Jets (2-10) at home in Weeks 16-17, Miami should be alive in January. Then again, losing to inferior opponents in December is a trend with which Dolphins fans are familiar.
-- Projection: In the playoffs at 10-6, as the AFC’s No. 5 seed.