In the NFL, winning in the month of December means being ready for the playoffs.  The Miami Dolphins are still one Baltimore Ravens slip up away from making the playoffs and the road to make the playoffs wouldn’t be complete without having to play the Patriots, Bills, and Jets to finish the season with at worst a 9-7 record.  Last season, the Dolphins won 7 games.  At this point last year, they were eliminated from playoff contention. 

On Sunday, with snowy conditions in Pittsburgh, the Dolphins defeated a two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger.  The Dolphins defense who seemingly didn’t have an answer for Le’Veon Bell racking up yards on the first few drives, but found answers with Cam Wake forcing a fumble, multiple touchdowns from Charles Clay, Brian Hartline with a toe-tap touchdown, and a huge 55 yard run from Daniel Thomas.  Not to mention, the Dolphins special teams unit created points with their own special teams ace, Jimmy Wilson forcing a blocked punt to give the Dolphins critical field position leading to improved field position.

This week on PhinsPhocus.com, we had the incredible opportunity to speak with NFL Sportswriter Ryan Wilson.  Wilson has a strong familiarity with the Pittsburgh Steelers and has incredible insight on this Sunday's matchup versus the Miami Dolphins.  We explored a number of  topics that such as the performance of  Mike Wallace with Miami, Pittsburgh's offensive line MASH unit, and the Dolphins defensive standout Brent Grimes.  

Please feel free to read CBSSports.com for the latest on the NFL and Ryan's articles are especially insightful and cover all the bases.  This matchup proves to be worth every minute of football viewing, but let's see what Ryan had to say about the Steelers and Dolphins.

MS:  I'm sure you have had a great time watching Mike Wallace appear like a failure in Miami until recently.  How does he match up versus the Steelers secondary and what scares you about his motivation to prove all of Pittsburgh wrong about being a one dimensional wide receiver?  

RW: I actually don't want Wallace to do poorly, it's just that I thought his last season in 2012 was unspectacular to the point that I was glad the Steelers didn't devote a non-trivial portion of the salary cap to him. After the 2011 season, the Steelers offered him $50-$55 million and Wallace turned it down. That also didn't sit well with fans, but to his credit, he got more than that with the Dolphins. Has he been worth it? No, not yet, and I think Dolphins fans are realizing what Steelers fans already knew: Fantastic straight-line speed, but not very physical and a propensity for drops.

As for who he'll face Sunday: Ike Taylor, who historically has fared well against some of the NFL's best wide receivers but has hit a rough patch recently, getting manhandled by Calvin Johnson, Josh Gordon and Torrey Smith in the last three games. There's no shame in losing battles to any of those players but there have been concerns that Taylor, who is 33, has lost a step. I'm not sure if that's true, but I will say this: He's physical and fast and it will be interesting to see how Wallace responds. The Steelers will have to provide safety help over the top because nobody on the planet can run with Wallace. 

Whether Wallace is motivated because he's returning to Pittsburgh ... well, I can't say. You'd think he'd already have 60 million reasons to be motivated, but he and Ryan Tannehill have yet to find that chemistry. Mike Tomlin used to joke that Wallace was a one-trick pony, and while he has become a better route runner, he's still basically ... a one-trick pony.

MS: The Steelers offensive line has been a patchwork and mishmash of different guys because of injuries throughout the season.  However, Fernando Velasco at Center has had a solid season.  How do you rate him going forward and where do see him fitting on this offensive line next season with Pouncey coming back? How do the Dolphins pass rush match up with tackles Beachum and Gilbert?

RW: The Steelers were unbelievably lucky to find Fernando Velasco still looking for work after Week 1's injury to Maurkice Pouncey. Because they signed Velasco to a one-year deal, he'll be a free agent in March. Presumably, the team would love to re-sign him, if for no other reason than he provides starter-quality depth along the interior line. The fact that he suffered an Achilles injury might make it easier for the Steelers because Velasco was playing so well that he would've likely gotten starter money elsewhere.

It's still unclear if left tackle Kelvin Beachum will play; he suffered a knee injury in the Thanksgiving Day loss to the Ravens. Either way, I will say this about him: He's a 2012 seventh-round pick who has outplayed two second-rounders (Gilbert and Mike Adams) for the right to be the starting left tackle. He's undersized by LT standards -- just 6-3 and 300-ish pounds -- but he has long arms and is very smart. The Steelers are apparently very intrigued with what he's done and there's a chance he could be their left tackle of the future. Gilbert, meanwhile, has been okay. He's not nearly as athletic as Beachum, but certainly looks the part of an NFL tackle. 

Perhaps the most amazing statistic of the season is the Roethlisberger hasn't been sacked in back-to-back games for the first time in a decade, which is remarkable. With the injuries to Velasco, Beachum and possibly David DeCastro, that will almost certainly change Sunday.

Put another way: I expect Cameron Wake to have a big afternoon.

MS: Much has been made of Ben Roethlisberger's supposed frosty relationship with OC Todd Haley, how has the relationship progressed since the Steelers got back on a roll and started winning games? 

RW: Funny how this works, but when the Steelers' offense is clicking, people tend to forget about Todd Haley. Actually, that's not entirely true; they insist on giving Big Ben all the credit, mostly because the team has been running a lot of no-huddle in recent weeks. And while Ben does deserve credit, the reality is that the offensive line was horrendous for the first half of the season. Only after that unit started to come together did  the offense start scoring points with some regularity. 

Whatever happens the rest of the season, I still expect Haley to get fired. Whether he deserves it or not is another matter.

MS: Tell us about Le'Veon Bell.  How does he match up versus the Dolphins defensive line, that should be good, yet has a hard time stopping the run? 

RW: Bell has been better than advertised. I'm a little concerned that he's been cleared to play after suffering a brain-rattling concussion on Thanksgiving. That said, he's got the rare combination of size, quick feet, great vision, greater patience, and is a really good pass-catcher. His biggest problem Sunday will be the o-line held together by duct-tape. It'll be interesting to see how this mishmash of starters and castoffs performs in a pretty important late-season game.

MS: Who are you most impressed with on the Dolphins defensively?  How do you envision them giving the Steelers fits?

RW: I love Brent Grimes. He's undersized, wasn't highly regarded coming out of college, and wasn't all that popular in free agency last spring because of an injury. Meanwhile, he's been mostly spectacular. As for giving the Steelers fits, it'll start with the pass rush. Pressuring Roethlisberger  -- and keeping him in the pocket -- is key. Some teams have had more success than others, but again, with the injuries along the o-line, I expect the Steelers to struggle in the passing game.

MS:  Given the loss of Mike Wallace to free agency, what do you think went wrong this season for the Steelers this season and what do they need to do to get back to winning games consistently?

RW: I think the loss of Wallace had a marginal effect earlier in the season because the wide receivers and Roethlisberger weren't on the same page. Also: Heath Miller, one of Ben's favorite targets, was still recovering from a knee injury. In terms of getting back to winning consistently: They need to find a way to keep the o-line healthy, and cut bait on some aging, expensive veterans, most of whom are on defense. A good draft and some savvy salary-cap management could put them back in the playoff conversation as soon as next season. 

MS: Even though Mike Tomlin isn't answering questions about his sideline positioning on the kick return versus the Ravens, could the loss of draft picks put him in hot water with the Rooney's?

RW: Nah. The Rooneys fully support Tomlin. He's been the coach for six-plus seasons, has an impeccable reputation and if they thought he had intentionally tried to impede Jacoby Jones' progress they may have felt differently. Also, it sounds like the Steelers won't lose a draft pick, which seemed like a weird, random punishment anyway.

MS: What is your score prediction for the game?

RW: I picked the Dolphins over at CBSSports.com, mostly because the Steelers' o-line is a mess and because I haven't picked the Steelers since doing so against the Patriots. As for a score, I'll go with 24-21.

We thank Ryan Wilson for his commentary about the Dolphins and Steelers matchup.  You can follow Ryan Wilson on Twitter @RyanWilson_07 and for the latest NFL news at CBSSports.com.

Every team needs a reliable running back. Give a smart running back holes to run into and it doesn't matter who he is or where he came from, he's going to get production. Reliable running backs also need to keep hold of the ball, something you only realise when one of your players is coughing it up every 20 snaps. How are the Dolphins running backs faring when it comes to reliability?

Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas (pre-injury) have gained the majority of the snaps this season, and while they've had to play behind one of the worst run blocking offensive lines in the NFL, they've managed to limit their fumbles to 1 between them, a fumble that came after a long run against the Bengals which wouldn't have happened had Miller made a better decision when choosing which lane to run into. 

Just when you count them out, they (the Dolphins) reel us back in.  Sure, the Jets are horrible and at this point in the season any decent defense that has an anemic offense is vulnerable.  The Jets actually held their own for a half allowing only two field goals, but without any help from the Jets talentless offense it was just a matter of time before the Dolphins found the end zone.  

At least we had a chance to get a peek at what the 2013 Dolphins were SUPPOSED to be or look like.  Kind of refreshing actually.  Minus a few mistakes in the first half it was nice to watch a game without throwing something at the tv--for the most part.  I had my hand cocked and ready a couple of times, but didn’t pull the trigger.

It's now the tail end of year number 2 for this former number 1 draft pick in Miami.  Ryan Tannehill, leading up to this season had a high  level of expectation that after starting the season with 5 TDs to 2 INTs, being mentioned in the same breath as Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck seemed achievable.  However, after paying a visit to the Bayou in New Orleans and throwing three interceptions, Tannehill found himself in dire straits and looking for a way out of the shadow that is Dan Marino in Miami.

Yesterday versus the Jets Tannehill turned in another great performance and his best performance this season throwing for 331 yards, 2TD, and posted a 94.2 rating.  In the first half of the game, even if the Dolphins didn't score a single touchdown, Ryan Tannehill was throwing the football at a high rate and completing passes.  His first drive lead the Dolphins to scoring chances inside the 40 yard line if not for a missed Caleb Sturgis field goal.  The offense appeared to stall in the first half due to the inability of Tannehill to deliver the football deep along the sidelines (pass thrown out of reach to WR Marlon Moore) and a bad pass to TE Charles Clay.  In fact, one aspect of the Dolphins offense that has been missing all season is that safety valve that extends drives in a big tight end that can catch passes at the sticks for first downs.  However, bouncing back from those poor drives, Tannehill found Clay later on a seam route that drove the Dolphins just past mid field hauling down a pretty pass that was thrown over the head of a linebacker sinking back into coverage for the Jets.  It was Clay's ability to grab that pass and extend the drive that would lead to bigger and better things in the second half. 

In a must-win game for both sides between two divisional rivals, it was the Miami Dolphins who took care of business, dominating the New York Jets on route to a 23-3 victory. The win evened the Dolphins record to 6-6 and allowed them to keep pace in the race for the AFC's sixth and final playoff spot.

Considering how well the Dolphins were able to move the ball, the scoreline was a generous one for the Jets. Despite only taking a 6-0 lead into the half, Miami was by far the better team. Although New York was only a touchdown away from leading, the Dolphins had 265 yards and 16 first downs compared to the Jets 39 yards and 2 first downs. From under throws by Ryan Tannehill to questionable play calling, Miami left a lot of points on the field.

However, the second half was a completely different story. The Dolphins were still able to move the ball with success but they were able to translate it into points. Tannehill settled in nicely and threw two touchdown passes, a 31 yard connection to Brian Hartline and a 28 yard pass to Mike Wallace to put the game out of reach. On both scores, the receivers were able to turn relatively short throws into big gains, something that's been lacking for Miami. Overall, it was an encouraging performance from Tannehill who finished the game with 331 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception that was a result of him getting hit on the play. The game marks the 4th time Tannehill has thrown for 300+ yards this season, the most in a single season for the Dolphins since Dan Marino was under center.

The season hangs in the balance for the Miami Dolphins versus the Jets today.  Both teams share the same record at 5-6 and the key to the playoffs.  Today's game not only serves as a must-win game for the Dolphins, but an opportunity to win on the road and quiet the naysayers about this team and their ability to win with their backs against the wall.  The Dolphins have a chance to get back into the playoff hunt with a win versus the Jets and several other scenarios.  In fact, the Dolphins must beat the Jets twice and then next week versus Pittsburgh. The Dolphins are 4-3 in conference play and can improve on that today.

As news trickled out of various sports news outlets last night that Jonathan Martin would not be playing for the Dolphins this season and would be placed on the NFI (Non-football Injury/Illness list) the Dolphins promoted an extra safety from the practice squad D.J. Campbell.

As if news couldn't get any worse for Miami in that it already has, the Dolphins will look to running back Marcus Thigpen to fill the spot left vacant after a season ending foot injury to running back Daniel Thomas.