Sunday’s clash with the Washington Commanders — the final international game of the 2025 NFL season — was an ugly affair in a beautiful stadium (Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain) for the Miami Dolphins, yet as the dust settled, the scoreboard showed a narrow overtime victory for the boys in aqua and orange by a score of 16-13.
After defeating their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, in convincing fashion by a score of 30-13 last week, many fans of the Dolphins thought they were in for an easier bout against Washington, but if you’ve watched this season in its entirety, you understand that things don’t often come easy for Mike McDaniel’s club.
Still, a win is a win — and that now makes two in a row for Miami for the first time since weeks 16 and 17 of the 2024 NFL season.
After trampling the Bills to the tune of 225 yards from scrimmage last Sunday, Dolphins running back De’Von Achane continued his dominance over opposing defenses against the Commanders as the third-year player totaled 120 yards rushing on 21 carries (5.9 yards per carry), plus added five receptions for 45 yards receiving.
Achane did not find the endzone against Washington, as his running-mate — rookie back Ollie Gordon II — vultured one score, and was stuffed on multiple goal-to-go situations later in the contest. However, without the production from Miami’s electric ball-carrier, the Dolphins would have likely found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard in Madrid.
Throughout his career as a member of the Miami Dolphins, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle has had an unfortunate propensity for dropping passes from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. But, since fellow receiver Tyreek Hill was placed on injured reserve with a season ending knee injury, Waddle has stepped up big time in the Cheetah’s absence.
However, on Sunday against the Commanders, Waddle’s drop issues unfortunately returned, as the Penguin had two easy receptions bounce directly off of his hands and fall to the grass for incomplete passes in crucial situations.
The second dropped pass came on a short throw near the end of regulation that would have set the Dolphins up for a long game-winning field goal try as time expired. However, after Waddle was unable to reel in the reception, the Dolphins were forced to throw it short to Achane and the running back was tackled far short of the endzone as the clock hit all zeros.
Miami will need Waddle to regain his high level of production if they hope to continue to rattle off wins as they attempt to get back into the playoff hunt.
Prior to Sunday’s game against Washington, the Dolphins had been perfect in goal-to-go situations during the 2025 NFL season — scoring touchdowns on all 13 opportunities.
Against the Commanders, things changed quickly for Miami, as they were stopped on multiple drives just shy of the endzone.
The first missed opportunity came when a fourth down throw from Tagovailoa to Waddle was tipped by linebacker Bobby Wagner as the receiver was attempting a sliding catch in the endzone. Miami had tried to run it up the gut on a couple of plays prior to that unsuccessful try, yet were stuffed each time, even as stud defensive tackle Daron Payne was inactive for Washington due to a one-game suspension.
Miami’s second turnover on downs came as the team was trying for the go-ahead touchdown with less than two-minutes remaining in the game. After Achane was dinged up for a couple of plays, rookie back Ollie Gordon II was stuffed on 4th and goal from the one yard line to give the ball back to the Commanders. Luckily, kicker Matt Gay incurred his second missed field goal try of the game as time expired, and the Dolphins were able to come up with an interception on the second play of overtime as Jack Jones made a fantastic play on a Marcus Mariota pass intended for tight end Zach Ertz. The Dolphins would finally settle for a field goal — this time to ultimately win the game for the club.
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The Dolphins head into their bye week with a record of 4-7 after winning their second game in a row against the Commanders. After returning from their off week, the Dolphins will get games against the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets. If they can come away with victories in both of those games, they’ll have a chance to get back to an even .500 record when they face the
The days leading up to the Detroit Lions’ showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles were eventful for Tyleik Williams. The Lions’ first-round pick from last April’s draft began his week with Dan Campbell suggesting he needed to pay his dues and learn from the veterans in front of him before getting on the field. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard sang a different tune, suggesting Williams could see the field more beginning with Sunday night’s game.
Whatever conversations Campbell and Sheppard had regarding the rookie must have gone in the defensive coordinator’s favor. Williams turned in one of his best overall efforts of the season in the 16-9 loss to Philadelphia and could have earned more opportunities moving forward.
While the rookie's stock appears to be going up, it could come at the expense of Alim McNeill, who may have opened the door for Williams to steal more snaps and continue the dilemma for the coaching staff as they try to figure out how to get everyone involved.
The Lions are happy to have McNeill back as he returned quickly from a torn ACL suffered last December. While his return drew plenty of enthusiasm from Campbell, he hasn’t been able to reacclimate himself to the field, posting overall Pro Football Focus grades of 39.0 in a Week 9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and a 45.4 overall grade in a Week 10 victory over the Washington Commanders.
McNeill didn’t lose any of his snaps in Sunday’s game against the Eagles, but there’s an argument that the Lions should have held him back. A 63.2 overall grade was his highest since he made his debut in Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he was also inefficient in the pass rush, generating just one pressure on 32 pass-rushing snaps.
While Williams didn’t have more luck as a pass rusher with one pressure on 12 snaps, he made a big impact in the running game with a pair of run stops and a season-high 74.7 grade on 24 snaps.
Part of Williams's usage could have been due to the opponent, as the Eagles have a run-heavy offense featuring running back Saquon Barkley and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts. But it’s also notable as his 36 total snaps were more than the past two weeks combined, and his most since he played 39 snaps in a Week 4 win over the Cleveland Browns
With Roy Lopez and DJ Reader also in the rotation, Williams made a case to stay there moving forward. While the Lions would probably like to keep using McNeill prominently, it makes more sense to get Williams more involved.
Having more bodies along the defensive line can only help the Lions moving forward and could provide the depth they didn’t have when their playoff run ended one season ago.
