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Defense thriving on 3rd down,

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WR Parker remains puzzling, DAVIE — Miami’s upset of the Patriots on “Monday Night Football” has the Dolphins on the outskirts of the playoff picture at 6-7. If they can win out over the final three weeks of the season, there’s a chance they’ll make the playoffs for the second consecutive year under Adam Gase.

Can they do it?

Let’s take a closer look at each of the hurdles ahead:

At Buffalo, 1 p.m., Sunday

How the Dolphins are trending there: Not bad. Remember last Christmas Eve? The Dolphins escaped with a had-to-have-it 34-31 victory in overtime, highlighted by that wild 55-yard field goal by Andrew Franks to force overtime. The victory was Miami’s last of the season but propelled them into the playoffs for the first time since 2008. It also broke a streak of four consecutive losses in Buffalo, traditionally a hostile place to play for the Dolphins.

Enoughwith that: What’s the forecast? Anyone who saw highlights of Buffalo’s 13-7 overtime victory over the Colts last week in a brutal snowstorm has to wonder if that’s what the Dolphins are in for. Answer: It could snow this weekend, but it couldn’t possibly (we think) be that bad two weeks in a row, even in Buffalo. The more optimistic forecasts even suggest temperatures could hit the mid-40s.

Playoffs

Can’t get enough snow: There are all kinds of wild tales coming out of the snow game, including fans helping other fans dig out of the parking lot afterward. Some Bills players made an appearance Monday night and ended up playing human tow trucks to get fans pushed out of the snow. At halftime, Bills coaches who were stationed upstairs had a nightmare getting down to the locker room and back. They’re usually driven to the locker room in golf carts, but because they were inoperable, the coaches had to ask directions, then snake through the concourse, where fans were lined up to buy hot chocolate (we assume). At least one coach said if he’d known how bad it would be, he would have just stayed on the sidelines for the second half.

Some fun stats: 8 inches of snow fell during the game, 20 snow blowers were used and 15 Bills played without long sleeves.

Another break for the Dolphins? Over the past two weeks the Dolphins have played teams missing key players (Denver’s Aqib Talib, New England’s Rob Gronkowski). Could it happen again? The Bills abruptly shuffled QBs earlier this season, going with rookie Nate Peterman in place of Tyrod Taylor, but they were without both late in last week’s game against the Colts when Joe Webb engineered the overtime victory. Taylor had a knee problem that kept him out of the game and Peterman took a helmet-to-helmet shot that sent him into concussion protocol.

Taylor returned to practice Wednesday and all indications point to him being able to start. The Dolphins could live without facing Taylor, who has eight touchdown passes, zero interceptions and a 121.2 passer rating in four games against Miami.

Recent form: The Bills beat the Chiefs 16-10 in Week 12, but they’re 2-4 over the past six games and gave up a combined 101 points to the Saints and Chargers in back-to-back games. They haven’t scored more than 16 points in any of the past three weeks.

What does Vegas think? The game remains off the board, so no line has been set.

At Kansas City, 1 p.m., Dec. 24 How the Dolphins are trending there:

You can’t mention a Dolphins trip to K.C., especially on Christmas weekend, without a reminder of one of the greatest wins in team history, that 27-24 double-overtime playoff victory in 1971 that remains the longest NFL game.

That’s also one of the rare times Miami has visited K.C. Over the past 28 years, they’re just 1-3 against the Chiefs at Arrowhead, most recently a 31-3 victory in 2011.

Him again? The Chiefs picked up 32-year-old cornerback Darrelle Revis (the ex-Jet) and he played 92 percent of the defensive snaps in last weekend’s 26-15 victory over Oakland. The Raiders targeted Revis’ man seven times but came away with just one completion for 8 yards.

It won’t snow there, too, will it? Maybe not. The extended forecast calls for temps in the 30s and cloudy. It appears the snow might hold off until Christmas morning.

Even more positive news for Miami? The Chiefs lead the AFC West at 7-6 but started the year 5-0, when they were the talk of the league. They endured a four-game losing streak as their point production was virtually cut in half. Quarterback Alex Smith, an early MVP candidate, slumped once defenses began keeping everything in front of them. Things improved since offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was installed as playcaller by coach Andy Reid. Overall, Smith has managed 3,507 yards (a career high) and 23 TDs against five interceptions. The Dolphins will have to contend with RB Kareem Hunt, a rookie from Toledo who has rushed for 1,046 yards, a 4.8 average and five TDs.

One major concern: You know how the Dolphins struggle against tight ends? The Chiefs might have the best in Travis Kelce (73 receptions, 945 yards, seven touchdowns).

Vs. Buffalo, 1 p.m.

Dec. 31

How the Bills are trending at Hard Rock: They lost to the Dolphins 28-25 last year and are 3-5 in Miami since 2009.