JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars climbed out of early-season holes by winning close games. Now, they’re right in the middle of the AFC playoff race.

There’s also a good chance one of them will fade from contention Sunday.
Although the Dolphins (6-6) and Jaguars (7-5) refuse to call it a must-win game, they recognize that the loser will have a considerably tougher path to the postseason.
“We know what’s ahead of us,” Miami quarterback Chad Henne said. “If we don’t take care of this week, our opportunities are very shy. This is the most important game of the season. Whatever happens here, we have to move on and worry about next week. This is the game we have to win.”
The Dolphins have won six of nine since an 0-3 start, and five of them have been decided by a touchdown or less. None was bigger than last week’s 22-21 victory against AFC East-leading New England. Dan Carpenter’s 41-yard field goal with about a minute to play left Miami a game back in the division.
The Patriots play Carolina Sunday, then Buffalo next week, so the Dolphins realize they have little room for error in the division and would have even less in the wild-card picture with a loss at Jacksonville.
“They hold some of the keys to the wild-card spot right now,” Miami coach Tony Sparano said. “It’s a big game for us. We’re well aware of it.”
The Jaguars have won seven of 10 since an 0-2 start, including five in a row at home, and control one of the AFC wild-card spots thanks to a 6-2 record in the conference. But with games against unbeaten Indianapolis and New England up next, Jacksonville also understands the importance of this one.
“You can’t think like the media, you can’t think like the fans,” quarterback David Garrard said. “Even though they put it out there for you to see how it could be — that’s great and everything — but you’re not going to go out there thinking, ’Well, we won last week, so we’re good this week. I’m going to just coast through this.’
“You’re not giving yourself a chance to keep momentum going. It is a must-win, plain and simple.”
The Jaguars essentially eliminated Houston from the wild-card hunt with a 23-18 victory last week. The Texans, who gave up 119 yards rushing and three touchdowns to Maurice Jones-Drew in their first meeting, stacked the line of scrimmage and forced Garrard to beat them through the air.
He did. Garrard threw two touchdown passes and enjoyed his first mistake-free game in a month. The Jaguars led 17-0 early and used three turnovers to keep the Texans from mounting a comeback.
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, whose team has won four of five games decided by three points or less in 2009, believes you almost have to have success in December to make the postseason.
“It’s that time where teams start to make a push,” he said. “If you’re going to get there, you’ve got to start to make a push. You’ve got to be able to play your best football in December to make it in.”
In a way, Del Rio started preparing for this game months ago.
He made a few trips to college campuses last spring to break down aspects of the popular wildcat formation, which Miami runs more than any team in the league. Del Rio studied practices and talked to coaches, all in an effort to devise a defense to stop it.
Del Rio had his offense run it repeatedly during organized team activities, with Jones-Drew taking most of the snaps.
“I just wanted to learn it and make sure that we would be prepared to handle it when we faced it if it became widespread,” Del Rio said. “It hasn’t become as widespread, but we’ll be prepared. If that’s something they do, we feel like we’ll have a good plan against it.”
The Dolphins might not even use it, though.
For the first time all season, Miami didn’t run a single wildcat play last week against the Patriots. Instead, Henne threw 52 times for a career-high 335 yards and two scores. Were the Dolphins merely attacking New England’s susceptible secondary? Were they taking some pressure off 32-year-old running back Ricky Williams? Were they saving the wildcat for the Jags?
“I don’t think that’s a setup,” Del Rio said. “I think they go into each game trying to win. They’ve got it in their package. It’s something that we expect to see. We’re prepared for it. Whether or not they use it, that’s their decision, but we’ve got to prepare for what we know they have in their package.”