NFL Week 17 Predictions: These Dark Horses Will Play Postseason Spoilers

Week 17 is the last chance for teams on the playoff bubble to punch their postseason ticket, and there are three dark-horse teams that will deliver a few upset specials this Sunday.

We saw the New York Giants slam the door shut on any hopes Philadelphia Eagles fans had of seeing Michael Vick and company play past next weekend. Three teams are looking to do the same to their opposition, with nothing else to look forward to than a win in the last week of their seasons and the 2012 NFL Draft.

Here are three teams that will take down their playoff hopeful opponents in the regular-season finale.

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins may only have five wins to their name in 2011, but they're coming off a Week 16 where they took it to the New England Patriots in the first half.

Now, things fell apart once Bill Belichick delivered his halftime speech to the Pats, but before that happened Matt Moore and Reggie Bush were torching their defense. The scoreboard in Gillette Stadium at the half read Miami: 17, New England 0.

Bush finished the game with his fourth straight 100-plus-yard performance on the ground and Moore threw three touchdowns with just one interception.

This week they take on the New York Jets, who are coming off their loss to the New York Giants in "The Battle for New York" at the Meadowlands.

Now the Jets still have a shot at grabbing a wild-card spot with the Cincinnati Bengals barely holding onto their sixth seed in the AFC, but Jet fans shouldn't buy their playoff tickets just yet.

Rex Ryan's squad has lost two straight games where they just haven't looked like a put-together team. Each time it looked like they might pull out the win against the G-Men, Mark Sanchez would turn the ball over or their heralded defense would let Eli Manning march down the field.

Ryan will do his best to rally the troops, but the Dolphins have been playing their best football of the year as of late. Miami has won five of their past eight contests, scoring 24 or more points in all but three games.

The 'Phins look primed to put Gang Green out of their misery.

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers fall into that cliched argument of being the best team with a mediocre record in the NFL, but this Sunday they'll put the pieces together and take down the New Orleans Saints.

Sure, the Saints just decimated the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, but the Panthers are playing some pretty good ball too.

Carolina only has five wins in 2011, but four of them have come in the past five weeks. They're coming off a Saint-like performance when they hung 48 points of offense against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and would like nothing better than to deliver another loss to an NFC South division rival.

The teal-and-black colored team boasts the 11th-ranked passing offense paired with the third overall rushing offense in the league, so they can go toe to toe with Drew Brees' attack.

Oh, and the last time these two played each other back in Week 5, New Orleans squeaked out a 30-27 point victory.

The Saints have looked great for the majority of the season—which is why they're fighting for the No. 2 seed in the NFC—but the Panthers have been maturing before America's eyes all season long and this win will put an exclamation point on a successful rebuilding year.

Kansas City Chiefs

I know, it's the Kansas City Chiefs. But hey, they beat the Green Bay Packers didn't they?

They just took their archrival Oakland Raiders to the limit last weekend, and they'll put an end to the Denver Broncos miracle season Sunday.

When Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton watched America fall in love with Tim Tebow and he signed with KC, I wouldn't be shocked to see this week's game circled a good 100 times on his new schedule.

Kansas City has lost some great players to injury in 2011 like Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry, but the team has shown flashes of that breakout team from 2010 this season.

The Denver defense has been pummeled by the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills in back-to-back weeks, with both teams posting a total of 81 points on the once-proud unit.

Tebow has also come back down to Earth, with last Sunday proving to be his worst performance this season. The Bills' lackluster defense held the Florida-raised quarterback to just 185 yards through the air, completing less than 50 percent of his passes, and four turnovers.

I'm on Team Tebow, and I think he'll bounce back statistically against the Chiefs, but there will be no fourth-quarter comebacks, no "Tebow Time," and Kyle Orton will get the last laugh on his former teammate this season.