Dec. 28, 2025, 3:59 p.m. ET
The Miami Dolphins bounced back from a blowout loss to earn a 20-17 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 17.
It was a day of breakout performances for the Dolphins with several veterans sidelined or benched. Quinn Ewers avoided mistakes in his second career start, completing 14 of his 22 passes for 172 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The first touchdown of the day for Ewers was a 63-yarder to Theo Wease Jr., a fellow rookie who also recorded his first career NFL touchdown on the play. Ewers later found Greg Dulcich on an 11-yard pass that was the tight end’s first touchdown in three years.
Rookies Jason Marshall Jr. and Zeek Biggers also came up big with an interception and a blocked field goal, respectively, to keep the Buccaneers offense in check.
Here are three instant takeaways from the Dolphins’ home victory:
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With a seventh-round rookie at quarterback, a starting center playing in his first NFL game, a thin depth chart at wide receiver, and several injuries on defense, the Dolphins simply outplayed and out-schemed the Buccaneers.
Miami’s game plan didn’t ask Ewers to do too much, but also trusted the rookie to make plays downfield and keep the Tampa Bay defense off balance.
And despite injuries that sidelined Jaylen Waddle, Chop Robinson, and Jordyn Brooks for stretches Sunday, the Dolphins outscored the Buccaneers 20-10 after allowing a touchdown on Tampa Bay’s first drive.
If Stephen Ross is truly undecided on the future of his fourth-year head coach, the team’s gutsy performance against a team in the playoff hunt could go a long way toward convincing the Dolphins owner that McDaniel should still be his guy.
Give the Dolphins secondary its flowers
With Minkah Fitzpatrick out of action, the Dolphins’ secondary of cheap cast-offs and late-round draft picks stepped up.
Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas continued to put together strong cases for new deals with the Dolphins or lofty price tags in free agency. Rookie Jason Marshall Jr. made several big plays, including his first career interception. Safety Ashtyn Davis also got his first pick in a Dolphins uniform.
The Buccaneers have struggled to recreate the offensive success they had early in the year, but with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Emeka Egbuka all healthy, Sunday was a tough ask for the Dolphins secondary.
While the Buccaneers’ lightning fast 91-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes took some gloss off the performance, the Dolphins won primarily because of their secondary’s ability to keep Mayfield and co. in check.
Quinn Ewers is making a case for the job in 2026
The Dolphins’ Week 17 win means the team probably won’t have a top 10 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. That, coupled with a complicated salary cap situation, could mean Miami doesn’t have many avenues to bring in a quality starting quarterback to replace Tua Tagovailoa next year.
Ewers will probably face competition for the job, as the Dolphins likely won’t hand the keys to the 2024 seventh-round pick.
But the former Texas Longhorns quarterback has earned the shot to try to win the job in camp. It wasn’t a dazzling day from Ewers, but the Dolphins offense ran smoothly and he made the big plays when they presented themselves. Most importantly, he didn’t throw any interceptions and hardly had any plays that had any shot of becoming turnovers.