All season long, DouglasNow has followed the Miami Dolphins and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Through the good (Hill’s pursuit of 2,000 receiving yards), the bad (the devastating fire at his Miami home earlier this week), and the ugly (his preseason altercation at Miami marina), DN and Hill’s hometown fans have been there.
Tonight marks Week 18 — the final week of the NFL season. Though the Dolphins have clinched a playoff berth, there’s still plenty left to play for. At 8:20 p.m., Miami hosts the Buffalo Bills for a primetime showdown with the AFC East division title on the line.
Buffalo clinched its own playoff spot Sunday afternoon when the Jacksonville Jaguars lost 28-20 to the Tennessee Titans. The loss eliminated Jacksonville from the postseason and ended what looked like a special season for the Jaguars.
However, it sets up a winner-take-all game between the top two teams in the division on national television. Five weeks ago, the Bills were three games behind the Dolphins and their playoff hopes hung in the balance. Only three teams have won a division after trailing three games with five remaining. (The most recent of those three was the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars.)
Then, of course, there’s Tyreek Hill. He’s dealt with an injury over the last few weeks and missed the game against the Jets. At the time of this writing, Hill has dropped to second place in the league in receiving; the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb trailed Hill by 66 yards when the Cowboys and Washington Commanders kicked off this afternoon. In the third quarter, Lamb had 92 receiving yards, putting him 26 yards ahead of Hill with over a quarter a remaining.
While Hill will almost certainly overtake Lamb against the Bills, it’s going to take a miracle for him to reach 2,000 yards. He would need a season-high 283 yards to hit 2,000 for the year. While it’s not necessarily impossible — Hill has the most receiving yards in the NFL since 2022 (3,427) and he does have a game with 257 yards this year — it’s gong to be a tall order against the Bills.
For the Dolphins and Hill, it’s going to come down to one final game. The division title and home field advantage are on the line. So are individual season records. This is a game you won’t want to miss. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. on NBC.