{"id":48946,"date":"2025-11-16T19:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T19:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/48946\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T19:42:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T19:42:12","slug":"top-takeaways-from-miamis-ot-win-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/48946\/","title":{"rendered":"Top takeaways from Miami’s OT win in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Miami Dolphins with Sunday\u2019s 16-13 overtime win over the Washington Commanders<\/a> in Madrid, Spain, have finally won back-to-back games, the first step in putting together a real winning streak and getting back into the AFC playoff picture.<\/p>\n

Things are looking up for the Dolphins (4-7), who unsuccessfully tried to muscle their way a victory late in the game<\/a>, heading into their bye week.<\/p>\n

Washington (3-8) entered Sunday riding a five-game losing streak but the Commanders turned out to be a tough opponent by running the ball effectively and limiting the Dolphins\u2019 big plays on offense.<\/p>\n

But hey, a win is a win. There\u2019s no style points<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we learned in Sunday\u2019s game:<\/p>\n

Dolphins in prime time<\/p>\n

The Dolphins are now 5-12 (.294) in \u201cprime time\u201d national television games under coach Mike McDaniel, who took over in 2022. The Dolphins were 3-10 in those games under McDaniel entering the season. This season they\u2019ve lost to Buffalo on a Thursday, 31-21, defeated the New York Jets on a Monday, 27-21, and lost to Baltimore on a Thursday\u2019s 28-6, making them 4-12 going into Sunday morning\u2019s Washington game in Madrid, Spain.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins have two prime time games remaining, Monday night at Pittsburgh on Dec. 15, and Sunday night against Cincinnati on Dec. 21. \u2014 Chris Perkins<\/p>\n

McDaniel strikes out trying to win with force<\/p>\n

McDaniel tried to be a bully late in the fourth quarter and win it on a touchdown instead of a 20-some yard field goal. It didn\u2019t work. Running back Ollie Gordon II was stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the Washington 1-yard line with the game tied at 13. Fortunately for McDaniel and the Dolphins it turned into a victory because Washington missed a 56-yard field goal attempt wide right at the end of regulation. But, wow, it would have been an ugly way to lose for McDaniel, whose job could still be in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Only turnovers earn victory<\/p>\n

Cornerback Jack Jones\u2019 interception in overtime gave the Dolphins their game-winning possession after fellow cornerback Ethan Bonner\u2019s recovery on a muffed punt in the fourth quarter appeared to give the Dolphins their a game-winning possession. Don\u2019t discount the turnovers.<\/p>\n

Miami, which didn\u2019t have a giveaway against Washington, entered the game tied for 29th in the league at minus-7 in the turnover margin. Washington was minus-6, 28th in the league. The Dolphins were plus-2 on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Dolphins second OT game under McDaniel<\/p>\n

This was the Dolphins\u2019 second overtime game under McDaniel, the only previous game being a 32-26 victory over the New York jets last season. The Dolphins won that game on a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to tight end Jonnu Smith after kicker Jason Sanders tied the game at 26 on a 52-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining in regulation.<\/p>\n

McDaniel, Tua records<\/p>\n

McDaniel is now 32-30 (.516) in the regular season with the Washington win. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has a 42-31 (.575) regular-season record. Tagovailoa, who was 6-5 as a starter in 2024, is now 10-12 (.455) in his past 22 starts. <\/p>\n

Tagovailoa ended Sunday\u2019s game 14 of 20 for 171 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions for a 96.0 passer rating. He was sacked three times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Achane gets it done from scrimmage<\/p>\n

Running back De\u2019Von Achane\u2019s 165 yards from scrimmage (120 yards rushing, 45 yards receiving), his sixth game this season with at least 100 yards from scrimmage, once again highlights his impressive versatility. Achane, a third-year player who will likely want to negotiate a contract extension after this season, has had more than 90 yards from scrimmage in nine games, all but the season-opening loss against Indianapolis and the Carolina loss. He\u2019s had one game with more than 200 yards from scrimmage.<\/p>\n

Achane had 75 yards from scrimmage against the Colts (55 rushing, 20 receiving). But since then he\u2019s had 122 vs. New England (30 rushing, 92 receiving), 91 at Buffalo (62 rushing, 29 receiving), 101 vs. the New York Jets (99 rushing, two receiving), 46 at Carolina (16 rushing, 30 receiving), 150 against the Los Angeles Chargers (128 rushing, 22 receiving), 98 at Cleveland (82 rushing, 16 receiving), 91 at Atlanta (67 rushing, 24 receiving), 106 vs. Baltimore (67 rushing, 39 receiving) and 225 against Buffalo (174 rushing, 51 receiving).<\/p>\n

Waddle still on pace for 1,000 yards<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (three receptions, 52 yards) entered the game having totaled at least 80 yards receiving in five of his past six games, tying the best stretch of his career. He didn\u2019t extend that streak Sunday, and he had two notable drops. But he\u2019s still having a good season with 47 receptions for 670 yards. At an average of 61 yards per game he remains on pace for a 1,000-yard season (1,037 yards), which would be his fourth in five seasons.<\/p>\n

Opposing QBs<\/p>\n

The Dolphins entered Sunday\u2019s game having lost to quarterbacks such as Cleveland\u2019s Dillon Gabriel and Carolina\u2019s Bryce Young. They couldn\u2019t absorb a loss to Washington\u2019s Marcus Mariota, another suspect quarterback.<\/p>\n

The way the season has gone, you could understand the Dolphins losing to Indianapolis\u2019 Daniel Jones, New England\u2019s Drake Maye, Buffalo\u2019s Josh Allen, the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 Justin Herbert and Baltimore\u2019s Lamar Jackson. But the Mariota loss would have been tough to take.<\/p>\n

Dolphins handling prosperity OK under McDaniel<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s win over Buffalo was one of the top wins in the McDaniel era along with wins over Baltimore (2022), Buffalo (2022), the New York Jets (2022), the Los Angeles Chargers (2023), Denver (2023), Dallas (2023) and the Los Angeles Rams (2024).<\/p>\n

The Dolphins are 4-3 after those games, indicating they\u2019re so-so- at handling prosperity.<\/p>\n

With Sunday\u2019s win, the Dolphins are now 5-3 after some of the biggest wins in the McDaniel era.<\/p>\n

Dolphins utilize three RBs<\/p>\n

Running backs De\u2019Von Achane (120 yards rushing), Ollie Gordon II (45 yards) and Jaylen Wright (four yards) combined to rush for 169 yards, showing the Dolphins have strength in numbers with their running game. Achane, Wright and Gordon all had carries in the first half as McDaniel got back to using his three running backs such as he did in the 34-10 win at Atlanta. Gordon\u2019s fourth-quarter touchdown tied the game at 13.<\/p>\n

The trio of running backs combined for 65 yards on nine carries in the first half with Achane (53 yards on seven caries) leading the way followed by Gordon (eight yards on one carry) and Wright (four yards on one carry). Things picked up in the second half led by Gordon\u2019s 20-yard run in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Brooks gets sixth double-digits tackles game<\/p>\n

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who began play Sunday as the NFL leader in tackles with 105, had 20 tackles in the game, 13 in the first half, six of those being solo tackles. Brooks has had six games of double-digit tackles. His previous season best was 18 tackles against the New York Jets.<\/p>\n

Run defense allows another team to rush for more than 100 yards<\/p>\n

Washington ended with 172 yards rushing, making the Commanders the ninth of 11 Dolphins opponents to rush for more than 100 yards against Miami\u2019s run defense. Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota had a 44-yard gain in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins have allowed every team except Atlanta and Buffalo to rush for more than 100 yards. Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez led the way Sunday with 79 yards on 15 attempts.<\/p>\n

Brooks\u2019 production profile has dramatically changed with his move to Miami<\/p>\n

In the 3,301 snaps he took while with the Seattle Seahawks, linebacker Jordyn Brooks collected 23 tackles for loss, or 143.5 snaps per TFL. He has taken that rate into the stratosphere at Miami. Through the NFL\u2019s Week 10, Brooks was at 1,639 snaps with the Dolphins, so just slightly less than half of his Seattle total. In that timeframe, he had piled up 19 TFLs, or 86.3 snaps per tackle behind the line of scrimmage. That is a 40% reduction in the snaps per TFL. Incredible. \u2014 Steve Svekis<\/p>\n

Could De\u2019Von Achane threaten 2,000 yards?<\/p>\n

Last week, the third-year rising-star running back became the first Miami Dolphins player with multiple games of at least 225 total yards (his 225 against the Bills joining his 233-yard outburst in 2023 against the Denver Broncos). With 165 more yards gained in Spain on Sunday, Achane is on pace for 1,963 total yards in 2025. Ricky Williams remains the standard-bearer for most yards in a season with 2,216. But in second place is Tyreek Hill with his 1,814 yards in 2023.<\/p>\n

Tua Tagovailoa\u2019s lack of athleticism can be a rough hang<\/p>\n

Both of the first-half sacks by the Commanders were nice plays by the Washington defenders, but a dozen quarterbacks, at least, would have gained more yards on those plays, either by getting the ball thrown, or by getting past the tackler, at least to some degree. Then, the defense\u2019s utter disregard for Tagovailoa as a run threat (he has one rushing first down in his past 18 starts) helped pack the box and lead to two second-half debacles where the Dolphins had a first-and-goals got zero points out of it, leaving Washington with a 13-6 lead. But, again, these shortcomings were knowns before the 2020 draft.<\/p>\n

That was a ridiculous pass interference call against Jack Jones<\/p>\n

A second-quarter flag bailed out an awful, airmailed Marcus Mariota pass that should have brought up a third-and-11 at the Washington 5. It was an amateurish call on multiple fronts, as Jones didn\u2019t restrict Deebo Samuel\u2019s movement as he broke inward. But, most inarguably, the ball couldn\u2019t have been reached if the target had been Victor Wembayama sitting on Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n

Another game, yet another example of Dolphins being poor with the small details<\/p>\n

First \u2026 slamming this to the top: KICK THE FIELD GOAL TO TAKE THE LEAD. Why are you acting like a Mariota-led Commanders offense will rull down for a winning TD in the final two minutes? The past four seasons under the stewardship of Mike McDaniel have been peppered with early-in-the-half timeouts, sometimes before long-distance third-down plays on offense, putrid use of the NFL challenge system and then, in Madrid on Sunday morning, a penalty that raised uncomfortable memories of the playoff game in Buffalo in 2023, when the Dolphins had a fourth-and-1 near midfield, down 34-31 with 2:27 left, when a delay-of game penalty basically ended Miami\u2019s chances. Against the Commanders, the Dolphins were breezing on their first possession when a 1-yard De\u2019Von Achane dive brought up a fourth-and-1 at the Commanders 23. Somehow, the Dolphins seemingly weren\u2019t prepared for a short-yardage situation, with Miami flagged for a delay, and the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal.<\/p>\n

How do Dolphins stack up in home games lost to international sites?<\/p>\n

The game against the Commanders in Madrid marked the fourth home contest lost by the Miami Dolphins to a foreign country. Some teams have played more such games (the Jaguars, Bills and Raiders all have given up at least five such games). What is truly incredible, though, has been that over the 19 years the international games have been played, a full quarter of the league has not sacrificed even a single home game: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders, Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. Say what?<\/p>\n

Progressive has mined some ex-Dolphins for acting work<\/p>\n

It is cool seeing three South Florida high school products \u2014 and former Dolphins \u2014 in Jacoby Brissett (Dwyer High School graduate), Teddy Bridgewater (Miami Northwestern) and Tyler Huntley (Hallandale) get some ride in the fun Progressive \u201cbackup\u201d commercials. Brissett is revealed as a \u201cbackup tax preparer\u201d, Bridgewater is couched as a \u201cbackup listener\u201d in a cafe and Huntley is a \u201cbackup parent\u201d speaking to a young man in his bedroom. Among other \u201cbackups\u201d revealed so far have been Mitch Trubisky, Case Keenum, Colt McCoy and Tommy DeVito.<\/p>\n

On deck: New Orleans Saints, Hard Rock Stadium, Sunday, Nov. 30, 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

The last time the Dolphins faced the New Orleans Saints, it was at the Superdome against a quarterback, Ian Book, making what ended up as his only NFL start. Miami got a Nik Needham pick-six and won 20-3. Assuming he stays upright, Tyler Shough will be making his fourth career NFL start at Hard Rock Stadium. After some injury-affected seasons, receiver Chris Olave is on pace for an 1,100-yard year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Dolphins with Sunday\u2019s 16-13 overtime win over the Washington Commanders in Madrid, Spain, have finally won…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15211,123,1763,125,124,13318,10829],"class_list":{"0":"post-48946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-madrid","9":"tag-miami","10":"tag-miami-dolphins","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-spain","14":"tag-washington-commanders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}