The Miami Dolphins have found their way into the playoffs this season, but not many folks are giving them much of a shot to stick around for very long. The Dolphins might be the most beat up team in the entire league at this point, and they have drawn an extremely difficult first-round matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

For the Dolphins, things might have looked completely different heading into this game had their starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa been healthy for this game. With Tagovailoa out, Skylar Thompson will be getting the start in this game, although Teddy Bridgewater will be active as well, and could see snaps depending on how things go.

Nobody is really giving the Dolphins a chance to beat the Bills, who may just be the frontrunner to win the Super Bowl this season. But as long as Miami is alive, they will have a shot to come away with some hardware. So with that being said, let's take a look at why the Dolphins will end up winning the 2023 Super Bowl.

Why the Dolphins will win the 2023 Super Bowl

It feels necessary to start this off by saying that the Dolphins are going to need a whole lot of things to go their way in order for them to win the Super Bowl. When they were fully healthy this season, they showed the potential of being a really solid playoff team, but the problem is they are far from full health right now.

The offense is in shambles without Tagovailoa, and while there's a chance that Bridgewater could do something magical if he ends up on the field, the chances of Thompson leading the Dolphins to victory over the Bills are very low. But if the Dolphins can find a way to beat Buffalo, they would be right back in the Super Bowl conversation.

Beating Buffalo is going to require a strong defensive outing from the Dolphins, but again, they have some key injuries to their unit that could present some challenges. Remember, though, this team did beat the Bills all the way back in Week 3, and while they obviously had Tagovailoa healthy for that game, the game plan is going to be relatively similar this time around.

We won't get too much into the nitty gritty of how the Dolphins can beat the Bills, but if they somehow send the Bills packing, it's not out of the picture to suggest they could go on a run. The only reason why that is plausible, though, is because Tagovailoa could return to action in the Divisional Round should they make it that far.

It may seem silly to place such lofty expectations on Tagovailoa, but for a point in time this season, the Dolphins were the top team in the AFC. Getting Tagovailoa back wouldn't necessarily fix all their issues, but it would certainly allow them to remain competent in the next few playoff games, which is all you can really hope for if you are Miami.

Being the seven seed is going to make things difficult, as the Dolphins would have to go on the road in each of the three games just to make it to the Super Bowl, and even if they beat Buffalo here, they would have a Divisional Round matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs right afterwards. If you want to talk about a tough path to the Super Bowl, that's about as tough as it gets.

But we have seen the Dolphins peak this season, and at their peak, they are good enough to beat any team in the league. Expecting them to be able to hit that peak without Tagovailoa, or even with him a bit rusty if he could return to the field in the Divisional Round, is a big risk, but they cannot simply be ignored because of the adversity they have come across recently.

Offensively, you can't ever count Miami out because of the big play threat that lurks with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on the field at the same time. And while the Dolphins defense has taken a step back this season, this unit has the potential to make their opponent's lives miserable; in fact, they may be one of the teams better suited to matchup with the Bills offense in the Wild Card round.

It's not going to be easy, nor is it inherently probable, but the Dolphins need to stay alive to see tomorrow in the playoffs, because if they can get Tagovailoa back on the field, they will have a chance to do some real damage. And if they can get hot at the right time, they could ride that all the way to a Super Bowl victory.