The Buffalo Bills are on a bye this week at 7-3 but the Miami Dolphins have stormed back since the opening month of the season. Once 1-3, Miami has rattled off five straight wins to get to 6-3. A win on Sunday puts them tied with Buffalo for the lead in the AFC East, with the Bills’ Week 2 win providing the tiebreaker to keep Buffalo on top.
That would be a pretty remarkable winning streak. In 2020, only two teams already have a streak that long. The Pittsburgh Steelers are 9-0 while the New Orleans Saints started 1-2 but are now 7-2. Miami would join them with a win over the Denver Broncos.
In 2019, three teams had eight-game or longer winning streaks. The New England Patriots began the year 8-0, the Baltimore Ravens went from 2-2 to 14-2, and the Kansas City Chiefs ended the season on a six-game run before adding three more playoff wins on their way to the championship.
It certainly is setting up nicely for Miami to continue their winning streak, perhaps up to eight games. The 3-6 Denver Broncos are likely to be without their starting QB Drew Lock this Sunday. Then the Dolphins head to New Jersey to play the winless New York Jets. If they survive those, they have the 2-6-1 Cincinnati Bengals in Miami before hosting the 8-1 Kansas City Chiefs.
Buffalo had a four-game streak to start the 2020 season and another in 2016 to get to 4-2. The Bills’ last six-game winning streak was in 2004, when they started 3-6, entered Week 17 9-6, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers backups to fall to 9-7 and out of the playoffs.
The last time the Dolphins had a six-game winning streak was 2016. Not coincidentally, it’s the last time they made the playoffs. Similar to this year, they started 1-4 before going on a six-game run to 7-4.