FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – While a long shot for the playoffs after two consecutive losses, it wouldn’t be wise to count out the Dolphins (8-6) quite yet considering the state of the three other wild-card contenders entering today’s games.

Tennessee (10-4), Denver (9-5) and Baltimore (8-6) all have issues that could derail their postseason hopes. Here is a look at what the other three contenders must overcome to reach the postseason:

• Tennessee: Although quarterback Steve McNair hopes to return from a cracked bone spur in his ankle today at Houston, the Titans are in trouble if he goes down because backup Billy Volek was placed on injured reserve with a lacerated spleen suffered in last Sunday’s 28-26 victory over Buffalo.

With rookie Jason Gesser the only other quarterback on the roster, Tennessee cleared $89,000 in salary-cap room to re-sign Neil O’Donnell, who was released during training camp. O’Donnell immediately began working with the first-team offense and may get pressed into action against the Texans if McNair doesn’t begin feeling more comfortable with his drop-backs.

O’Donnell was admittedly bitter after being released by Tennessee, but the thought of playing for a world championship team was enough to bring him back.

“I have two AFC Championship rings. I don’t have a Super Bowl ring,” said O’Donnell, who started for Pittsburgh in a Super Bowl XXX loss to Dallas. “The one thing I don’t want is to look back down the road and say I wish I came back for those couple weeks.”

• Denver: Broncos coach Mike Shanahan may have severely damaged his team’s playoff chances by leaving tailback Clinton Portis on the field for one play too many during last Sunday’s 23-20 overtime victory over Cleveland. Portis suffered a high ankle sprain on an overtime carry with the Broncos already in excellent position for Jason Elam’s game-winning field goal.

Portis, who is second in the NFL in rushing with 1,571 yards, is questionable for tonight’s game at Indianapolis (11-3).

“I know that if things don’t work out, criticism is going to come,” Shanahan said. “But that is the nature of the business. … I take people out of the game when you are up by a large amount or if we’re behind. In a situation like that where you are going for the win, I’m thinking about a possible fumble rather than somebody getting hurt. You have to do what you think is right. It’s just a shame that it happened when it happened.”

• Baltimore: The Ravens seemingly have a favorable matchup at Cleveland (5-9), but Baltimore has committed 16 turnovers that led to 53 points in their current four-game road losing streak. The latest flop came in last Sunday’s 20-12 loss at lowly Oakland (4-10).

“In my opinion, losing this game was probably the worst thing that could have happened to us this season,” Ravens cornerback Chris McAllister said. “To lose to a 3-10 team is ridiculous.”

AFC EAST

New England (12-2) and Tennessee have double-digit victories despite fielding the NFL’s two lowest per-carry averages. The Titans rank last at 3.19 yards, with New England trailing at 3.24. But that mark doesn’t matter as much as overall carries to Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, whose unit ranks 11th in that category with 415. “There are two things that offensive football comes down to – running attempts and completions,” Weis said. “The two games we lost were the two games we ran the ball the fewest.”