Back from the dead?
Sentenced to life this season again?
Let’s start with something less sweeping than such big themes after the Miami Dolphins’ 34-10 win against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Let’s just say the following people won’t be publicly hung by their thumbs again on the day after:
Mike McDaniel, whose capri pants looked a little better Sunday.
Tua Tagovailoa, who had an efficient game for the first time this season after the worst of his career.
Anthony Weaver, whose defense was the star this game.
What did the Dolphins (2-6) serve at the pregame meal, a defibrillator?
This team that dominated Atlanta wasn’t the team that stumbled and bumbled in through their previous seven games, winning just once. The defense actually stopped the run Sunday. The offense actually ran the ball. This team actually was who they expected to be all year.
Has anyone been this surprised by so many people rising for their graves since the barn scene in Walking Dead?
Most points scored this season.
Least points given up.
Least rushing yards allowed.
Most smiles afterward, too. It was just one game. Hey, the New York Jets even won for the first time this season Sunday. But the Dolphins’ idea is one game can become two Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens. At the very least they saw what must be done and hasn’t been all year.
“We knew coming into the game if we could (not) win or didn’t feel good about our line of scrimmage play, we’d be facing the same result,” McDaniel said.
This has to be especially gratifying to Weaver, the defensive coordinator who has been on the defensive all season. The Dolphins entered Sunday as the league’s worst rushing defense and faced Atlanta’s fourth-ranked rushing offense.
Who saw Atlanta having 15 carries for 31 yards on Sunday? Or Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson, who entered the game averaging 5.2 yards a carry, have 2.8 yards a carry against the Dolphins?
This was a defense that turned around the careers of Kimani Vidal and Rico Dowdle in recent weeks. And it suddenly turned one of the league’s best backs into who Vidal used to be?
You can pick your star of the game. But linebacker Jordyn Brooks was the best player on the unit that set the tone of the day. His 10 tackles don’t tell the story, considering too many Dolphins tackles have been across state lines some plays.
Three of Brooks’ tackles were for minus yardage, including a sack. Three others came within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage. Do you see the impact from a defense needing just that?
Sure, Atlanta had backup quarterback Kirk Cousins out there. So what? The Dolphins defense has been carved up by backup running backs, receivers and offensive lines all year. Why not a quarterback, too?
“This whole week I think guys were upset, as we’ve been all season,” Brooks said “Using that anger for preparation, that’s something we did.”
That must go for the offensive line, too. The Dolphin not only ran the ball, but McDaniel had the strategy to do it. Reserve guard Daniel Brunskill was added to the line in the spot injured tight end Julian Hill would be used.
More beef. More power. More of big running back Ollie Gordon II to go with the speed of De’Von Achane, too. Achane gained 67 yards. Gordon had 46 yards. Jaylen Wright even got his first nine carries of the season in gaining 28 yards.
Brunskill wasn’t the only offensive wrinkle Sunday. Offensive coordinator Frank Smith moved from the press box to the field to talk to players during the game.
“Frank is a problem-solver, a solution man,” McDaniel said. “He invested in the players. They respond to him.”
Hey, bring our Chris Perkins down from the press box if it helps. What helped perhaps more is on their first touchdown drive of 13 plays in the first quarter, they had nine effective runs. Three were third- or fourth-down, short yardage runs by Gordon for the first down.
“He’s a big dawg,” center Aaron Brewer said of Gordon.
On this day, everyone qualified as a big dawg. Everything the Dolphins did worked — and some things they didn’t even need to do, like when Robinson’s knee knocked the ball out of his hands for a fumble when Atlanta looked to be going in for a score to cut the game to 17-10.
It was that kind of good day for the Dolphins. The question becomes if this flicked some switch in the Dolphins or they’ll just run this game as their full highlight reel for 2025.
Sunday changed the feel around this team for day. But the season is 2-6. The hole still looks far to deep to dig out of.
As much as whipping Atlanta felt good for the Dolphins, it also showed what could have been this season. That’s something to think about. But don’t think too long. Baltimore comes to town Thursday.
Originally Published: October 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM EDT