Dolphins' Rooting Guide for 2021 NFL Draft Implications of Week 14

Heading into the final month of the NFL regular season, the Miami Dolphins find themselves in a unique position. At 8-4, they still have a good chance of making the postseason. However, they can also hope for a top-five selection in next year's draft.

This means Miami could make a run in January while also grabbing an elite draft prospect like Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell or Miami Hurricanes pass-rusher Gregory Rousseau in April. How? Well, the Dolphins own the Houston Texans' 2021 first-round pick as part of the Laremy Tunsil trade.

Which teams should Miami fans be rooting on in Week 14, aside from their potentially playoff-bound Dolphins? That's exactly what we're going to examine here. First, though, let's take a look at the draft order for the early portion of the first round.

1. New York Jets (0-12)

2. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-11)

3. Cincinnati Bengals (2-9-1)

4. Dallas Cowboys (3-9)

5. Los Angeles Chargers (3-9)

6. Philadelphia Eagles (3-8-1)

7. Carolina Panthers (4-8)

8. Atlanta Falcons (4-8)

9. Miami Dolphins (from Houston, 4-8)

10. Denver Broncos (4-8)

11. Washington Football Team (5-7)

12. Detroit Lions (5-7)

13. Chicago Bears (5-7)

14. San Francisco 49ers (5-7)

15. New England Patriots (6-7)

16. Arizona Cardinals (6-6)

Info via Tankathon.

Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

This is the big one. If the Dolphins hope to maintain a top-10 draft selection, they need the Texans to continue losing. This particular game is doubly important because the 5-7 Chicago Bears are one of the squad's nipping at Houston's (Miami's) heels in the draft order.

Unfortunately, the Texans have been the better team as of late, winning two of their past three games and three of their past five. Meanwhile, the offensively inept Bears haven't won since Week 6. Houston also has the edge at quarterback, as Deshaun Watson is a few tiers above fellow 2017 first-round pick Mitchell Trubisky.

Chicago is also dealing with a distraction, as football activities have been halted because of COVID-19 concerns.

"This morning we were notified that we had a positive COVID-19 test," the Bears said in a statement. "As a result, the club has elected to pause all in-person football activities today and close Halas Hall. Instead, all meetings will be conducted virtually."

The DraftKings Sportsbook has the Texans as 1.5-point favorites.

Still, there's reason to believe that Chicago can come out on top here. While the offense has been much-maligned all season, its defense has been pretty stout. It ranks 15th overall, 12th in points allowed and has only allowed 19 touchdown passes in 12 games.

If the Bears can contain Watson—as the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns have done in the past month—they can keep this one close. From there, it will be a matter of grinding things out with David Montgomery on the ground and hitting a few big plays with wideout Allen Robinson II.

Chicago's defensive efforts will be aided by the absence of Texans receiver Will Fuller V, who is suspended for the rest of the season because of a PED policy violation. Dolphins fans should hope that this one turns into a defensive struggle, which would favor Chicago.

Houston ranks 30th in total defense and 24th in points allowed.

Rooting Interest: Go, Bears!

The Dolphins need Houston to lose Sunday. That's the first step toward securing a high draft selection. They also need as many teams sitting directly below or even with the Texans to win as possible—that's the next step toward keeping one. Earning a higher draft slot is still possible, and the Dolphins could move into the top five if Texans fall.

These are the most important games for that scenario.

             

Dallas Cowboys at Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, Fox)

Because of the Cincinnati Bengals' 2-9-1 record, the Texans (now Miami) cannot catch the Bengals in the draft order in Week 14. However, they can catch the Dallas Cowboys with a loss and a Dallas win.

This is one of the few games in which we're likely to see the Cowboys favored from here on out. Dallas is a 2.5-point favorite over the Joe Burrow-less Bengals. Were Burrow not out for the season, Cincinnati would probably be the favorite.

Can the Andy Dalton-led Cowboys get the win here? Yes. While the Dallas defense has been atrocious this season, the Cowboys still have offensive weapons like CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, Dalton Schultz and Ezekiel Elliott. The Bengals, meanwhile, have struggled to put points on the board without Burrow, averaging just 11 points in their past three outings.

The Cowboys have an outside shot at winning the NFC East still and should put up a fight in Cincinnati. Hopefully they can get the win and move into a draft-order tie with Houston. Should that happen, Cincinnati could still catch the Philadelphia Eagles in terms of wins later in the season. The Eagles and Cowboys will face off in Week 16.

Rooting Interest: Go, Cowboys!

                

New Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox)

The Texans would jump the Philadelphia Eagles in the draft order and give Miami a top-five selection with an Eagles win here. Philadelphia tied the Bengals in Week 3 and holds a half-game lead over Houston in the draft order.

While an upset feels unlikely, it's not impossible. Perhaps the move to rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts will give Philadelphia the offensive spark that it needs. The Eagles announced recently that the 2020 second-round pick will start over struggling veteran Carson Wentz at quarterback.

"I looked at the whole thing and decided that for this week to look for that spark again to try to get the team over the hump, to try to get everybody playing better," coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday, per Dave Spadaro of the team's official website.

This would be a monumental upset, as the Saints are favored by a touchdown. But upsets happen every week in the NFL. On Monday, the now-5-7 Washington Football Team knocked off the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rooting Interest: Go, Eagles!

        

Atlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox)

The Texans can move into a draft-day tie with the Los Angeles Chargers if L.A. can hold off the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. In this scenario, the Texans would also still remain tied with the Falcons in the draft order.

In some ways, the Dolphins can't lose here. Either Houston will move into a tie with Los Angeles or it will push past Atlanta in the draft order.

The ideal outcome would be a tie. If the Falcons and Chargers remain locked after four quarters plus overtime, the Texans would sit a half-game behind Los Angeles and a half-game ahead of Atlanta. Dolphins fans would then need only to hope for another Chargers win to pick ahead of both teams in the spring.

Looking at the Chargers' remaining schedule, there are a couple of winnable games too. L.A. narrowly lost to the Las Vegas Raiders the last time they met, and the Chargers will face the Raiders in Week 15. The Chargers also narrowly lost to the Denver Broncos in their first meeting, and they are set to host Denver in Week 16.

Then there's the season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs. Under normal circumstances that may feel like a guaranteed loss—though L.A. did take Kansas City to overtime in Week 1. However, there's a chance that the Chiefs will have locked up home-field advantage by Week 17 and won't play many of its starters.

Kansas City is tied with the Steelers at 11-1 atop the AFC. Therefore, Dolphins fans may want to see the Chiefs win out and the Steelers lose to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14.

The Falcons are favored by 2.5 in this one.

Rooting Interest: Go, Everyone!

            

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Rooting Interest: Go, everyone?!