The Miami Dolphins are looking to bounce back from a frustrating 8-9 finish in 2024 that saw the franchise on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

Miami’s 2024 campaign was marred by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffering another concussion in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills that sidelined him for four games over the next five weeks. The Dolphins started just 2-6 and could never completely recover.

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Tagovailoa played in and started just 11 games last season as a hip injury sidelined him for the final two contests of the regular season.

With Tagovailoa back healthy entering 2025, the hope is that Miami can get back to the type of football that earned the franchise wild card berths during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

For now, Pro Football Network forecasts Miami to miss the postseason again, though. In its 2025 playoffs predictions, PFN picked the Buffalo Bills to win the AFC East for a sixth consecutive season.

PFN shared its rationale for why Miami is one of its AFC teams that just missed the playoffs.

The Miami Dolphins (PFSN playoff probability: 39%) have enough raw talent to challenge for a wild card spot, but getting there requires a few things, too many things to go right. Their divisional win upside is limited, and that’s a tough pill to swallow with a second-place schedule awaiting them otherwise.

They did win eight games a season ago, hanging around the playoff picture until the very end in a season in which they had the fifth-worst special-teams unit (per EPA) and saw Tua Tagovailoa miss more than a third of the season. Hope springs eternal, but drawing the AFC North offsets the benefits from having a ninth home game and leaves them on the outside looking in for me. – Pro Football Network.

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In its contests versus AFC North foes, the Dolphins will host the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals and travel to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.

Miami will also play against every team from the NFC South and second-place finishers from the AFC South, AFC West, and NFC East in the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders.

The Dolphins will have the dates finalized on its schedule during the NFL’s 2025 schedule release on Wednesday, May 14.

This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins projected among AFC group just outside 2025 NFL playoffs