The Miami Dolphins travel north to take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon and bring a team and a quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa that have struggled mightily in 2025.

The Dolphins are 1-6, with their only win coming against the winless New York Jets, and they’ve struggled on both sides of the ball.

There’s an old saying that quarterbacks get too much of the credit when a team wins and too much of the blame when teams lose. Dolphins’ quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is on the wrong side of that adage, struggling through the worst season of his career.

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His 82.8 passer rating is the first time he’s been under 100 since 2021, and it’s the lowest of his career. He’s already thrown 10 interceptions, tied for second-most in his career. The Dolphins are 27th in total yards, but Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich knows Miami still has breakout potential.

“I still see the same guy that I’ve been fearful of the last four years,” Ulbrich said this week. “He’s maybe one of the best rhythm throwers in the NFL still to date. And it’s coaching as well. His synchronized feet with the routes and the concept is just elite.

“When the back foot hits, the ball’s coming out. When you get the ball out like that, the players, as we’ve already mentioned, with the speed that they have, that can be explosive, that can be scary. So again, like I said, we’ve got to have our best week of prep.”

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel could be coaching his last game in Atlanta if the results aren’t better than they were last week in an embarrassing 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns. McDaniel springs from the Kyle Shanahan tree, and both coaches were with Atlanta in 2016.

Shanahan’s offense gave the Falcons trouble last week, and Ulbrich sees the similarities and differences in McDaniel’s unit.

“There’s some familiar concepts that are universal to that tree of coaching,” Ulbrich said. “Mike has definitely branched off. I think from a run game perspective, he’s got a lot of motion, a lot of formation variety. He’s got a lot of different personnel grouping. He does a lot of stuff. He’s very creative.

“I really believe the evolution of his passing game is what really was different. And that wasn’t necessarily, I don’t think, just what he wanted to do. I think it was more, he was building an offense to feature the players that he had. When you have a guy like Tyreek [Hill] and [Jaylen] Waddell, you’ve got to do some creative things to get him in space, get him free, and take advantage of all that speed that they have.

“So, from a pass game perspective, it’s a little different. Concepts might be very similar. The presentation, the motions, the formations look different.”

Ulbrich is hoping the Dolphins don’t get on track against his defense. It will be tough for Miami. Hill and tight end Darren Waller are on injured reserve, and Waddle is questionable with a hamstring.

The Falcons haven’t let a quarterback throw for over 200 yards against them this season, and if they can put pressure on Tagovailoa, they should exit the game with a winning record for the first time this season.