Ok, I've been on the road all day.. what happened to Miami/ New England that Miami is going and New England is going home?
Both teams split their games 1-1. Division records were both 4-2. Miami's conference record was 8-4, New England's was 7-5. Miami gets in. Common opponents isn't looked at until after conference records are compared, I believe. Either way, if common opponents was looked at first, they would have been tied. 3-1 with division opponents (Jets/Bills), NE was 3-1 against the AFC West and 4-0 against the NFC West. Miami was 4-0 against the AFC West and 3-1 against the NFC West. That means they were both 10-2 against common opponents, 11-3 if you count the games against each other, but both lost to their opponents from the AFC North and South. NE played slightly better competition (Indy/Pitt) than Miami did (Balt/Houston) so if it had come down to strength of schedule, NE would have gotten in.
Oh we have not given up! Like I said we were 1-15 last year with that one W against the Ravens. Just being realistic here.
Go Fins! They could realistically win. I don't see why not.
Additionally, Miami will NOT play Tennessee should they win. It goes by seeding. The 3 seed (Miami) would play the 2 seed (Pittsburgh). Should the Ravens win (6 seed), they would play Tennessee (1 seed). The 4/5 game plays the other team, based on who wins the 3/6 game.