Dolphins vs. Steelers: Three must-know storylines for Monday's Week 15 prime-time game

A pair of AFC teams close the curtains to Week 15 action on Monday, as the Miami Dolphins travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers.

The Dolphins have won four straight games and, with just a 1% chance to make the playoffs, are looking to play spoiler toward the end of the season. Miami's win streak is the franchise's longest within a season since 2022. After a 1-6 start to the season, Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins have turned things around.

Heading into Monday's game, the Steelers are leaders of the AFC North, but it's a tight race with the Baltimore Ravens in the rearview mirror. Pittsburgh won a crucial division game over the Ravens in Week 14 after losing its previous two games. But the Steelers will be without one of the best pass rushers in the NFL for Week 15, with T.J. Watt recovering from surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung.

With the Steelers having a slight lead in the AFC North, Monday's game for Pittsburgh has a lot of playoff implications. If Pittsburgh gets a win, it has a 72% chance to secure a playoff spot, but a loss knocks the Steelers down to 54%, according to Next Gen Stats.

Three must-know storylines

1) Dolphins' running game a big part of recent success

A key part of Miami's recent winning streak is running back De’Von Achane. The Dolphins RB has had 100-plus scrimmage yards in each of the last five games for Miami. Since Week 9, Achane leads the NFL with 147 scrimmage yards per game (4-1 record). In the Week 14 win over the Jets, Achane suffered a rib injury and did not return as the Dolphins leaned on Jaylen Wright with their RB1 sidelined. Wright did the most with his opportunity as he had a career-high 24 carries to go with 107 rush yards and one touchdown. Achane's status was in question earlier in the week, but the dual-threat RB is in line to play in Monday's game. Achane, who stands at 5-foot-9 and weighs 191 pounds, ranks first in the league with 5.8 yards per carry and 4.4 yards after contact, according to Next Gen Stats. If the Dolphins would like to pull off an upset and play spoiler, Miami will be leaning on Achane and Wright to extend its win streak to five games.

2) Rodgers, Metcalf clicking at the right time?

It appears that the Aaron Rodgers-DK Metcalf connection is peaking to unlock the deep pass game. In the Week 14 win over Baltimore, Rodgers completed all three of his deep passes (20-plus air yards) for 121 yards to Metcalf. The Steelers QB did not complete a deep pass in the entire month of November. Rodgers had a season-high 284 passing yards as Metcalf led the Steelers with 12 targets, seven receptions and 148 receiving yards in Week 14. It was Metcalf's first game with 145-plus receiving yards in a game since Week 4, 2022 when he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks. With the running game averaging the fourth-fewest yards in the league (89.2 rush yards per game), Rodgers building chemistry with his No. 1 WR at this time of the season is a positive trend that Pittsburgh would like to continue to develop heading into the final few games of the season and possibly the playoffs.

3) Which defense could force turnovers?

Since Week 9, the Dolphins defense has not allowed opponents to score more than 17 points. Despite trading pass rusher Jaelan Phillips at the trade deadline, Miami's defense, headlined with linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Bradley Chubb, has thrived. Brooks leads the NFL with 142 tackles, with Chubb leading the Dolphins with 6.5 sacks and 16 QB hits this season. The Dolphins defense is riding high into Monday's game after recording a season-high six sacks in Week 14. Meanwhile, the Steelers defense will be without T.J. Watt for the first time in the regular season since 2022. Watt leads the team with seven sacks and 18 QB hits, but the Steelers have 10 players with at least one interception this season, which is most in the league.

Dolphins' Week 14 injury report

Steelers' Week 14 injury report