How Dolphins can make playoffs and when. Twelve notes, including startling comment from Hill

The Dolphins kept their playoff hopes alive with a 29-17 win against the 49ers on Sunday, and they’re going to get at least some measure of clarity before they take the field next Sunday at Cleveland (4:05 p.m., CBS).

The Dolphins will make the playoffs if they win at Cleveland and at the Jets and one of these three other things happens:

▪ Two Chargers losses and two Denver losses. The Chargers play at New England and at Las Vegas. The Broncos play at Cincinnati and home against Kansas City.

▪ Two Denver losses and one Indianapolis loss. The Colts have an easy schedule: at the Giants and home against Jacksonville. But the Colts, who beat Jacksonville on Sunday, haven’t won three in a row all season.

▪ Two Chargers losses and one Indianapolis loss.

Miami cannot control its own destiny heading into Sunday’s game at Cleveland.

But the Dolphins could be eliminated from playoff contention before the Cleveland game because the Chargers and Broncos play Saturday and the Colts play at 1 p.m. Sunday.

If the Chargers win at New England at 1 p.m. Saturday and the Broncos win at Cincinnati at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the Dolphins would be eliminated from playoff contention.

The Dolphins also would be eliminated from playoff contention if they lose at Cleveland or at the Jets.

The Dolphins would own the tiebreaker against the Chargers (9-6) or Broncos (9-6) or the Bengals (who, like the Dolphins are, 7-8) because Miami would be assured of having a superior conference record.

The Dolphins would lose a tiebreaker to the Colts because of Indianapolis’ victory against Miami in October.

Twelve quick notes:

▪ If the Dolphins win in Cleveland and the Broncos lose in Cincinnati, it would help Miami if Denver’s Week 18 game against the Chiefs has meaning for Kansas City.

In order for that to happen, the Bills would need to beat the Jets and Patriots the next two weeks, and the Chiefs would need to lose at Pittsburgh on Christmas. In that scenario, the Chiefs would need to win at Denver to secure the No. 1 seed against Buffalo, which has the tiebreaker with Kansas City.

▪ The Dolphins clinched second place in the AFC East with Sunday’s win and the Jets’ loss to the Rams.

That means Miami will play the AFC West’s second-place team at home next season (Denver or the Chargers) and will play at Indianapolis (the second place team in the AFC South).

CBS’ Tony Romo predicted: “Miami is going to be great next year. They’re getting guys back. They’re going to be great.”

▪ Tua Tagovailoa now has 100 touchdown passes, 44 interceptions and a 98 passer rating in his career.

Tagovailoa finished 22 for 34 for 215 yards and a 92 rating, which prevented him from becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 70 percent of his passes in seven consecutive games.

▪ Zach Sieler’s 6.5 sacks are the most by an NFL defensive lineman over the past six games; he had 10 sacks last season and has the second-most by an interior defensive lineman since the start of 2023.

Meanwhile, Chop Robinson is up to six sacks on the season; he had one Sunday and also deflected a pass that could have been a 49ers touchdown otherwise.

▪ Holding penalties continue to be very damaging. Left guard Rob Jones committed two, negating two first-down runs. Center Aaron Brewer committed one, negating a Tyreek Hill catch for a first down.

▪ The Dolphins will face Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and not Jameis Winston, in Cleveland. The Browns are sticking with Thompson even though he threw for 157 yards and two interceptions in a 24-6 loss. Coach Kevin Stefanski said Thompson-Robinson will start against Miami presuming he doesn’t get injured this week.

▪ Best development of the day? The ailing running game sprung to life with 166 yards on 5.5 per carry. De’Von Achane had 17 for 120 (7.1 per carry), including the 50-yarder to deal it. Raheem Mostert had 8 carries for 31 yards.

▪ Miami improved to 17-4 in their last 21 games against teams below .500 in the McDaniel era. They’re 1-10 in their last 11 against teams above .500.

▪ Good to see Jeff Wilson Jr. get a chance in short yardage; he converted a 3rd and 2 rushing attempt. He had two carries for 12 yards after having only one carry since September.

▪ Tyreek Hill, who dropped two passes (including a potential touchdown) and had another tipped away, blamed himself after a day in which he caught three passes for 29 yards and a touchdown.

He suggested he needs to stop taking veteran’s rest days. He has typically taken Wednesdays off this season, something Calais Campbell and Terron Armstead (and at times, Jordan Poyer) have done.

“I need to be able to get those valuable reps with the quarterback,” he said. ”We need those valuable reps Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I completely blame myself for not getting my head around and seeing the ball [on one dropped TD]...

“I’ll bounce back. I’m human. The NFL is not easy. I know in the past, I’ve made it look easy. But this year has been tough.”

As for practice reps, McDaniel said it’s an “imperfect formula. You’re trying to yield the best performance on game day. If the player is feeling the rest in a negative way, you adjust.”

▪ McDaniel said linebacker Jordyn Brooks “took a pretty good shot” to the quadriceps and left knee but that it does not appear to be a joint or structural injury. “We’ll see how long it takes” to get better, he said.

He said he doesn’t know the severity of Kendall Fuller’s knee injury.

▪ The Dolphins rotated Isaiah Wynn and Liam Eichenberg at right guard and McDaniel said they did a good job: It was “really good to get Isaiah in with the way he worked. [We were hoping it would[ render better results in the run and pass game.” Miami didn’t allow a sack.