An unpopular view on the state of the Dolphins: A dozen thoughts, notes on win
A dozen notes and thoughts following Miami’s 16-13 overtime win against Washington on Sunday in Spain:
▪ This was exasperating at times, puzzling at others, but Miami (4-7) ultimately accomplished two things that, at least in our view, would be ideal to achieve over the coming weeks:
1). Win, stay relevant and remain at least on the fringes of wild-card contention.
2). Give the young players significant snaps so they can be evaluated.
Before you take issue with No. 1, I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me that this team won’t win anything with Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa and the franchise needs to fail spectacularly the remainder of the season in order to convince owner Stephen Ross to make wholesale changes.
I see the rationale behind that thinking, but I don’t look at it that way. Here’s why:
1). Why would anyone assume that the Dolphins would pick the right executive and coach to turn this into a Super Bowl contender? They never have under this ownership.
That’s not to say they should unquestionably stick with this coach and quarterback. It’s simply a warning not to assume that their departure ensures bright days ahead. Houston blew it up and sits at 4-5 after a long rebuild.
Might another rebuild/tank be the way to go? Perhaps. But I’m not ready to say that yet in a league where teams can make quick turnarounds.
I’m also not ready to try to lose games in a draft without a sure-fire franchise quarterback. Do we know if there will be any great difference between picking 11th (where Miami stands after the 1 p.m. games) and seventh?
2). The Dolphins could go on a win streak here (with the Saints and Jets coming next), fall flat on their face against Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and New England and still make wholesale changes. So many of you rooting for a November/December/January tank still might get your wish. But as long as there’s a chance to salvage the season, why root for failure?
3). The NFL is the entertainment industry, and the longer your team stays on the cusp of playoff contention, the better.
When your team hasn’t won a playoff game in 25 years, you can’t think in terms of “blowing it up to build a Super Bowl contender.” You need to take solace in smaller things, such as single wins and remaining on the fringes of wild-card contention, even as sad as that may sound.
Another positive of Sunday, in our view, is the Dolphins should have a strong evaluation on all of their young players by the end of the season.
Instead of using journeyman Matthew Butler, Miami is giving significant snaps to all of its young defensive tackles — Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers — and the results have been positive at times, less so at others.
Grant had a stop for no gain on a 3rd and 1, and Biggers — the rookie seventh rounder — continues to show flashes, though Washington ran for 172 yards on 5.2 per carry.
Miami must know whether it has have three defensive tackles who can be projected for heavy-usage roles next season. Playing them is the only way to determine that.
The Dolphins are getting a good read on all their young defensive backs, (now-injured Juju Brents, Jason Marshall Jr., Dante Trader Jr., Ethan Bonner).
They’re getting a firm read on what Ollie Gordon II, Jaylen Wright (now out of mothballs), Malik Washington and Jonah Savaiinaea can do.
All of that information (and game tape) from the young players is critical to determine offseason plans.
▪ The view here is it’s impossible to justify McDaniel bypassing a short field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 1:43 left with the score tied. Gordon was stuffed on the play, after Jevon Kinlaw whipped Cole Strange. McDaniel explained the decision here.
Per the Associated Press, this was only the second time since at least 2000 that a team went for it — instead of kicking the field goal — on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with the score tied inside of two minutes.
“I don’t know what Miami was doing,” NFL Network’s Kurt Warner said. “Just kick it. I don’t believe you don’t take the points there.”
Former NFL coach Steve Mariucci, sitting alongside Warner in the studio, also was dumbfounded. “You had been stopped before [on short yardage],” Mariucci said. “Take the lead and see if our defense can hang on!”
That drive happened after Ethan Bonner recovered a fumbled punt from Washington’s Mike Sainristil on the first punt return of his career.
▪ McDaniel’s play-calling, in another regard, also drew pushback from a former NFL offensive lineman.
“There’s nothing the Dolphins like more than calling a WR screen for -3 yards after a big gain doing some actual football plays,” Geoff Schwartz said on X.
To his credit, McDaniel smartly relied heavily on Achane late in regulation, running him six consecutive times before the failed fourth-down run by Gordon, and then running him all three plays after the Jack Jones interception in overtime.
Those Achane overtime runs gained 10, 4 and 8 yards, setting up Riley Patterson’s 29-yard game-winning field goal on a first-down play.
Achane closed with 121 yards on 20 carries (5.7 per carry) and caught five passes for 45 yards. He’s one of only two players to exceed 100 yards from scrimmage at least eight times this season.
▪ A defense that had played very well for most of the past three games had too much leakage on Sunday — including a 43-yard run by Marcus Mariota on a third-and-eight — but came up with five big plays in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime:
1). On third-and-goal from the Dolphins 2, Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson stopped Chris Rodriguez for no gain.
2). Then, on fourth-and-goal from the 2, Zach Ertz seemed to be slipping on Mariota’s throw, Ashytn Davis was in the neighborhood and the ball sailed over Ertz with 6:06 left in the game.
3 and 4). After Washington marched down the field after Miami failed on that fourth-down run with 1:44 left, Miami’s defensive backfield had stout coverage on incomplete passes to Robbie Chosen and Chris Moore, forcing a 56-yard field goal that Matt Gay missed with 15 seconds left.
Minkah Fitzpatrick was in the right spot on both of those plays, continuing a stretch of very good work from him in recent weeks. Rookie Marshall also had a good play in coverage late.
5). Jones read Mariota’s eyes and grabbed the interception to start overtime, giving Miami the ball at Washington’s 35.
Jones credited cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo for emphasizing using his eyes all week. “Eyes could be my weak spot,” he said.
Jones has eight career interceptions; four were returned for touchdowns and another came in overtime, on Sunday, to set up a win. Brooks said Jones predicted he would make that interception.
▪ Brents couldn’t replicate his success from his first Dolphins start a week ago, then left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.
Filling in for Rasul Douglas against Buffalo, Brents permitted only two of five targets to be caught, for 11 yards, while also recovering a fumble.
On Sunday, he was beaten for completions on his first three targets — a 13-yard crossing pattern by Jaylin Lane, a 15-yarder against Ertz and a 19-yarder by Moore.
It’s too soon to know if the Dolphins have a starting-caliber (or even a rotation-caliber) cornerback in the former Colts second-round pick. And they might not find out, depending on the severity of his ankle injury.
Marshall Jr. replaced him.
▪ The Dolphins’ peculiar usage of timeouts continued. A week ago, they called one before a play had been run, as McDaniel sought an explanation for a penalty. On Sunday, with the Dolphins offense rolling early, Miami inexplicably used a timeout 2:07 into the game.
But McDaniel oddly didn’t use one in the first quarter before the delay-of-game penalty negated what appeared to be a successful conversion by Gordon II on a fourth-and-2.
▪ For the second time in three weeks, a former NFL official said on live television that the Dolphins were the victims of a bad call.
A bogus tripping penalty against Gordon negated a long passing play in the Baltimore game.
On Sunday, a phantom pass interference against Jones gave the Commanders a first down late in the first half. Otherwise, Washington would have had a third-and-11 deep in their territory. “That’s not a foul,” NFL Network and Fox officiating expert Dean Blandino said.
Washington drove downfield after that penalty and Gay hit a 30-yard field goal to tie the score 6-6 as time expired in the first half.
▪ Jordyn Brooks, the league’s leader in tackles, had 13 in the first half and 20 for the game but continues to be targeted in pass coverage. He entered the game having allowed 51 completions in 56 targets for 505 yards and was beaten on two more completions early in the game.
Brooks generally does more than enough in other areas to compensate for the deficiencies in coverage.
▪ After going 13 for 13 over the season’s first 10 games, the Dolphins failed to score a touchdown on two of three goal-to-go situations.
The first sequence, which happened in the third quarter: On a third-and-goal from the 2, Julian Hill failed to make the block and Gordon was stuffed for a 1-yard loss. Tagovailoa then threw incomplete on a fourth-down pass intended for Jaylen Waddle, leaving Washington ahead 13-6 with 6:06 left in the third.
Gordon made up for that by scoring the game-tying touchdown from the 2 yard line early in the fourth quarter. But Gordon then lost 2 yards on McDaniel’s regrettable decision to try a fourth down run in the final two minutes with the score tied. Achane had no gain on the previous play from the Commanders’ 1.
The Dolphins, who entered seventh in the league in short-yardage conversion rates, went just 2 for 8 on third-and fourth-and-short on Sunday.
▪ Chop Robinson, who didn’t start the game but played a lot, nearly tackled Mariota for a sack in the end zone in the second half, but Mariota wildly threw the ball away as he was going down. It wasn’t grounding — and a safety — because there was a receiver in the area.
With Jaelan Phillips traded to Philadelphia, more is needed from the Bradley Chubb/Robinson/Matthew Judon triumvirate. On Sunday, they combined for only four tackles and no sacks.
Chubb had two quarterback hits and Robinson one.
▪ Malik Washington converted a big third-and-6 on a nice pass from Tagovailoa late in the third quarter, a drive that ended with the Gordon touchdown to tie the score.
As a rookie last season, 13 of Washington’s 26 receptions went for first downs. He entered Sunday with only nine first-down conversions on 30 receptions.
Quick stuff:
▪ Tagovailoa finished 14 for 20 for 171 yards and a 96 rating, with no TDs or interceptions. He was sacked three times, with his lack of athleticism evident on two of them… Gordon’s nine rushes for 45 yards were enormous…
The Dolphins continue to struggle with picking a starter opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick. On Sunday, Ashtyn Davis started for the sixth time this season. Trader II has started three games and Ifeatu Melifonwu has started four…
Waddle had his worst day since Tyreek Hill’s season ending-injury in Week 4. He had three catches for 52 yards but two drops….
Washington quarterback Josh Johnson briefly entered the game late in the third quarter when Mariota was shaken up — which reminded us how Johnson could have changed the Dolphins’ future for the better, if only team officials had thought of it.
When Miami signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to execute the Failed Tank of 2019, I mentioned that Fitzpatrick was too good to execute a tank to land the top pick, and that Miami should have signed journeyman Johnson instead. A 2019 season quarterbacked by Johnson might have left Miami in position to draft Joe Burrow first overall. Alas, no.
This story was originally published November 16, 2025 at 2:42 PM.
