ATLANTA — The Miami Dolphins traveled to Atlanta to take on the injury-depleted Falcons on Sunday. and they came away with their second victory of the season, a 34-10, win.
The Dolphins (2-6) played their best, most complete game of the season in dispatching the Falcons and ending a three-game losing streak. Coach Mike McDaniel utilized some seldom-seen strategies such as using six offensive linemen and the run defense finally showed up and played up to its potential.
This was a timely victory too, considering the Dolphins host Baltimore on Thursday, meaning they could get two wins in a five-day stretch.
Here’s what we learned in the win over the Falcons:
Ross, lots of Dolphins fans in da house
Dolphins owner Steve Ross was spotted on the sideline before the game, as usual. At one point Ross chatted with a group that included Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, team vice president Nat Moore and team president Tom Garfinkel. It might have been encouraging for Ross that there was a large, vocal Dolphins contingent at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. You saw it walking into the stadium and heard them early in the game. Twice in the first half there were chants of “Let’s Go Dol-phins!” The same chant went up again in the fourth quarter. — Chris Perkins
McDaniel rises above .500 mark
McDaniel improved his regular-season record to 30-29 (.508) with the victory, and his overall record, including his 0-2 mark in the playoffs, to 30-31 (.492). McDaniel is 11-31 (.355) on the road in the regular season and 11-33 (.333) on the road overall. Sunday’s win snapped a five-game road losing streak and interrupted a stretch of losing seven of the past eight road games.
Tua plays great game
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 20 of 26 for 205 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 138.6 passer rating. It was his best showing since a 34-15 win over New England last year when he was 29 of 40 for 317 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 128.9 passer rating.
Run defense
The Dolphins run defense, led by linebacker Jordyn Brooks (10 tackles, three for loss), made its best showing of the season, holding the Falcons to just 31 yards yards rushing on 15 carries. The Dolphins entered Sunday’s game with the league’s worst run defense, allowing at 159.3 yards per game. Brooks almost recorded a safety in the second quarter when running back Tyler Allgeier barely got the ball out of the end zone on a run up the middle. The run defense swarmed Sunday the way many thought it would swarm all season. The Falcons had just eight carries for 11 yards in the first half. They only had 58 yards of offense in the first half.
Zach Wilson gets backup QB designation, and plays
Veteran quarterback Zach Wilson earned the backup job over rookie Quinn Ewers, a reversal from last week, which was a reversal from training camp. Wilson got playing time Sunday because the Dolphins were ahead, 31-3, in the fourth quarter. McDaniel didn’t name his backup quarterback during the week, saying he wanted to see Friday’s practice.
Storm Duck finds a role . . . but then sustains injury
Second-year cornerback Storm Duck, a starter who sustained an ankle injury in the opener, entered the game in the second quarter in place of cornerback Jack Jones. Unfortunately he left the game in the fourth quarter on a cart with a knee injury. It was Duck’s first action since the opener against Indianapolis.
CB Kendall Sheffield gets playing time
Cornerback Kendall Sheffield, who was signed on Oct. 18 after being released in August, also found a role in the second quarter in the slot. At one point in training camp it appeared Sheffield might open the season as a starter but his inconsistent play eventually got him cut. Sheffield could be needed Thursday considering Duck’s knee injury and starting cornerback Rasul Douglas sustaining an injury in the fourth quarter.
Great first half for Dolphins
The Dolphins took a 17-3 first half lead due to playing perhaps their best half of the season. The Dolphins were 4 of 8 on third downs in the first half and they held the Falcons to 0 of 5. Atlanta had just two first downs in the first half. The Dolphins had a 169-58 yardage advantage and a significant time of possession edge — 19 minutes, 22 seconds compared to just 10:38 for the Falcons. The Dolphins scored on three of their five first-half possessions.
Dolphins win coin toss and elect to receive
The Dolphins won the pregame coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Often the Dolphins elect to defer and receive the second half kickoff when they win the coin toss. Return man Dee Eskridge, who later left the game with a shoulder injury, returned the opening kickoff 32 yards to the 34-yard line. The Dolphins went three-and-out on the possession as Tagovailoa was sacked by an unblocked blitzer on third down. But it’s interesting that McDaniel has chosen tor receive the opening kickoff at least twice this season after winning the coin toss. McDaniel had been committed to receiving the second-half kickoff.
Daniel Brunskill gets playing time at sixth OL
Guard Daniel Brunskill was on the field as the sixth offensive lineman and tight end for plenty of running and passing plays. Brunskill, who previously got snaps at right guard against Buffalo, was meticulous about reporting as an eligible receiver to referees. The Dolphins were down to the bottom of the barrel for tight ends with Darren Waller (pectoral) on injured reserve and Julian Hill (ankle) sidelined. The Dolphins signed tight end Greg Dulcich from the practice squad and elevated tight end Hayden Rucci from the practice squad during the week to play alongside with Tanner Conner.
Chop, Chubb, Phillips and Judon rush QB together
Outside linebackers Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, Jaelan Phillips and Matthew Judon were on the field together twice Sunday, once in the first quarter and once in the third, both on third-and-3 situations and both resulted in incompletions.
In the first quarter the foursome produced an incomplete pass by quarterback Kirk Cousins as Phillips, who entered the game with 2.0 sacks, was hot in pursuit of Cousins on the play. In the third quarter Robinson dropped into coverage on the incomplete pass.
The Dolphins haven’t used the Chubb-Phillips-Robinson-Judon foursome together very often.
When was the last time a Dolphins team so dominated a competent team on the road?
Dominant Dolphins wins against teams on the road who are .500 or better have been RARE. There was a 31-3 pummeling of the 4-3 Chiefs at Arrowhead in 2011, but there were no turnovers in that one, and the yardage was fairly similar between the teams. No, this shocking hammering, I think, goes back to the Tony Sparano Special of 2008: The 38-13 Wildcat rout of Bill Belichick and the 2-0 Patriots in Foxborough. Every aspect fired on every cylinder. Incredible, incredible performance. — Steve Svekis
Brooks lays down his hammer
Jordyn Brooks came into Atlanta with three tackles for loss on the season. The tackle-machine linebacker matched that total in the game’s first 25 minutes, hauling down Bijan Robinson for a loss of a yard on a run, almost hauling down Tyler Allgeier for a safety on a negative-3-yard carry and then putting down Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins for a 5-yard sack.
Tua Tagovailoa refound his dome game
As spry, decisive and accurate as he has been this season, Tagovailoa got back on track with his indoor game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 138.2 passer rating spectacular after a few off performances under the roof, primarily in Houston late last year and Indianapolis in this season’s opener. His first seven dome games, Tagovailoa had gone 144-219 for 1,726 yards with 12 touchdown passes and only two interceptions for a stellar 104.2 passer rating. Sunday’s game far exceeded even any of that brilliance.
The Dolphins offense got its wakeup call in Georgia
Miami almost doubled their first-half scoring output on the season, having come in to the Falcons game with 20 points in the first 30 minutes of their previous seven contests. Tagovailoa pushed the offense to 85% of that point total in Atlanta.
Kyle Pitts has been underwhelming in his career, but not against Miami
Pitts, the fourth pick of the 2021, has averaged 100 receiving yards a game against only one opponent, the Miami Dolphins, albeit in only two matchups, but still, that is amazing. He had a stunning 163-yard game at Hard Rock Stadium in 2021. Sunday was more muted but, still, after a 59-yard outing Sunday, he retained his triple-digit average against that solitary foe, at 111 yards per game.
On deck: Baltimore Ravens, Hard Rock Stadium, Thursday, 8:15 p.m.
The Dolphins get a Ravens team in desperation de facto playoff mode with them likely getting superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson back into the fold. Jackson has largely torched the Dolphins over his career with him piling up a passer rating of over 140 in three of the teams’ four games with him also running wild for 162 yards on 16 non-kneeldown rushes (10.1 yards per carry) as the Ravens’ offense piled up 146 points (48.7 points a game), but the one stark exception was the one time Jackson faced the Dolphins at night, a Thursday night 2022 game at Hard Rock Stadium. In that one, Miami won 22-10 on a night Jackson was saddled with a 73.6 passer rating and needed nine runs to churn out only 39 rushing yards. Incredibly, this was also the last time Tagovailoa ran for a touchdown in a game.
Originally Published: October 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM EDT