‘Here to play football.’ Dolphins to try to avoid victory hangover vs. Commanders
The Miami Dolphins have been here.
Fresh off a dominant, 34-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, the Dolphins went out the following week and laid a dud, scoring just six points in a lopsided loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Miami subsequently finds themselves in a similar position ahead of Sunday’s inaugural game in Spain, as their 30-13 win over the Buffalo Bills could give way to post-victory hangover. The Dolphins, after all, have severely disappointed its fair share of fans in 2025. Such ups and downs nearly beg the question of which Dolphins team will show up in Madrid to face the Washington Commanders.
“The biggest thing is the old saying, never get too high, never get too low,” defensive tackle Zach Sieler said. “And that’s exactly it. Obviously that was a great win last week, but to focus in on what we did to keep that going, and there are still some things we did wrong. So to make the adjustments there, and don’t do anything different – just because you won last week doesn’t mean all right, we can relax here.”
Coach Mike McDaniel, to his credit, believes a full week of practice should help breed a favorable answer.
“We really established a tempo to our work week that we found successful in that Atlanta prep, and then we had things fall short in the next game, so the whole focus this past week was taking what we’d learned from our prep for Atlanta and applying it to Buffalo, exclusively us and how we do things,” McDaniel said. “So this will give us another chance to replicate that on the heels of trying to replicate that in the first place.”
The circumstances, however, are eerily similar. Not only did the Miami’s 28-6 loss to Baltimore come after a big win, the L came under adverse conditions due to the lack of practice prior to the Thursday night showdown. In the Week 11 matchup vs. the Commanders, the Dolphins must overcome not only an international flight but also a time difference.
“It’s been an adjustment just with the time shift and all that,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said. “It was hard to sleep on the plane obviously, so the last couple of days have really just been trying to get rest whenever you can, honestly. As soon as meetings are over, I try to go up and get rest and try to do the same things that you do back home to take care of your body, whether that’s hot tub, cold tub, sauna, all those different things.”
The recovery aspect of Brooks’ statement likely has been one of the more challenging aspects of the Madrid game. Veterans like Bradley Chubb pride themselves on their routine; now they must try to adjust it in an entirely different side of the world.
“It’s hard, but that’s the point about being a pro,” the star edge rusher said. “You’ve just got to find ways to maximize the things you do. You have your set of people in South Florida that you’ve been working with and stuff like that, but you kind of got to plan ahead in that sense. Some people might have to come out here with you in order for you to get to that point where you need to be.”
Added Chubb: “Some of the guys brought their masseuse, personal trainers, all that different type of things that you use throughout the week that you kind of have to have to stay on the field.”
As Chubb alluded to, it’s important to find some sort of consistency amid the change. That, more than anything, will be tested when the Dolphins take the field at the historic Bernabéu Stadium to face the Commanders this Sunday. This, however, becomes when a player must revert to their why, as Tyrel Dodson said.
“You’re here to play football,” the linebacker said. “You’re here to win. You’re here to go 1-0 this week in Madrid. So if your mind is not 1-0, I don’t want you coming on that plane honestly.”
“We won one game,” Dodson continued. “That’s nothing. That’s our third win. We don’t need to go stroking our ego because we haven’t done anything yet.”
