National Football League

Dolphins' playoff chances remain slim

Published Nov. 29, 2010 9:43 p.m. ET

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The Miami Dolphins' most lopsided win this year did little to help their slim playoff chances, and coach Tony Sparano knows it.

The Dolphins (6-5) might fall short of a postseason berth even if they sweep their final five games. Odds are long in part because the Dolphins have lost to the four teams they're chasing in the AFC race - the Patriots and Jets (both 9-2) and Ravens and Steelers (both 8-3) - and head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker for a wild-card berth.

All four teams won last week, so Miami gained no ground despite a 33-17 victory at Oakland.

''This is back-against-the-wall time,'' Sparano said Monday. ''Winning the game, our margin for error is still the same as it was going in.''

That means it's small, and Miami desperately needs a December surge beginning Sunday against Cleveland.

At least the inconsistent Dolphins looked like a playoff team against Oakland. They gained 471 yards, their highest total in 15 years, and held the Raiders to 16 yards rushing, which matched the second-lowest total ever by a Miami opponent.

''Our mentality was, 'Let's start that tough climb,''' running back Ronnie Brown said.

With playoff hopes in jeopardy, the Dolphins bounced back from a rash of injuries and a prime-time drubbing by Chicago. They showed plenty of emotion against the Raiders and Sparano led the way, throwing roundhouse punches as his team pulled away.

''We spent a lot of time this week talking about getting back to having some fun,'' he said. ''Sometimes you've got to challenge them a little bit that way, and I did that toward the end of the week and said, `Listen, there's no law that says that these college guys are the only people that can have fun, and that when you graduate from college to the NFL, the fun meter runs out.' ''

It's fun to play well, and the Dolphins did that. They achieved season highs in points, yards rushing (186) and time of possession (41:38), while the defense had three takeaways and allowed only one touchdown.

A long list of surprising contributors included reserve receivers Marlon Moore and Roberto Wallace, and backup linebackers Tim Dobbins and Ikaika Alama-Francis.

''At this stage of the game, when you're here in December now, the more people that you can get involved, the better,'' Sparano said. ''I told the team earlier in the week, `When you're trying to get something done, sometimes you need fewer architects and more bricklayers.' In this game we had a lot of that.''

One architect, leading receiver Brandon Marshall, didn't play because of a hamstring injury, and leading tackler Karlos Dansby was limited because of a wrist injury. Their status for the Browns game is uncertain.

For the first time in a month, Sparano will start the same quarterback two games in a row. Chad Henne's grip on the job became firmer with a 307-yard, two-touchdown passing performance at Oakland.

The start was Henne's first since a bizarre sequence that turned the position into a revolving door. Henne was benched, then regained the job when Chad Pennington suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Henne then hurt his left knee and missed the game against the Bears.

''He didn't put his head in the sand here through this whole thing, which I knew he wouldn't do,'' Sparano said. ''He's not that type of kid.''

Resilience has been a pattern this season for Miami, with the past four victories coming after a defeat. But the Dolphins haven't strung together consecutive wins since they were 2-0.

''They just kind of won't go away,'' Sparano said. ''They stay together even when it gets really hard. Their focus and concentration and work ethic in practice all stay the same, so my hat's off to them. They do a good job that way; now we got to find a way to do it two weeks in a row.''

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