20. Miami Dolphins
It’s great to see a healthy Tua Tagovailoa out there for the Dolphins and it’s great for the Miami Dolphins to see him, obviously.
As scary as Tagovailoa’s health situation seems to be on a week-to-week basis, there’s no denying that the Dolphins are going to be a problem for the rest of the season in the AFC if he can stay at full strength.
That’s the only reason why they are so off in the distance of the playoff race right now. The backup situation in Miami simply wasn’t thought through properly, and an extended absence for Tagovailoa has proven to be completely detrimental to this team. They’re not buried yet, but it’s going to be brutal.
Things can turn around in a hurry for this Miami team, however. They have a home game this weekend against the Patriots, which should be very winnable, and then they have a quick week against the Green Bay Packers, another game that should be very winnable even going on the road on Thanksgiving. The Dolphins could be back at .500 in a matter of just 10 days here.
19. Indianapolis Colts
This weekend’s win for the Indianapolis Colts was absolutely massive. The Colts snapped a three-game losing streak and they did it on the road against a desperate Jets team.
The Jets haven’t been good this season, but that’s anything but insignificant.
The Colts brought Anthony Richardson back into the lineup, so his benching didn’t last all that long. Unfortunately, turning to Joe Flacco didn’t yield the results they would have hoped for in terms of at least keeping pace in the AFC South or the AFC Wild Card race.
But the Colts getting their big (but close) win against the Jets puts them at 5-6 this season and very much in the thick of things. I mean shockingly, and don’t look now, they are only one win behind the Houston Texans in the AFC South right now…