Miami defeated the Washington Commanders 16-13 in overtime as the NFL’s first game in Spain produced a second win in a row for the first time in the Dolphins’ 2025 season.
“I think this was most definitely a team victory,” Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “It was the Miami Dolphins that won the game, so I’m just blessed that I got to come out here, experience some food, experience the culture out here for a little bit, go walking, get in to see the city a little bit. But, yeah, I would say this is just a Miami Dolphins win. And it was good to get a win.”
Both offenses had opportunities that got away at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
Miami settled for field goals of 46 and 39 yards on two of its three first-half possessions, got stopped on downs when linebacker Bobby Wagner broke up a fourth-and-goal throw from the Washington 2-yard line with 6:06 left in the third quarter and was stuffed on fourth-and-goal on an Ollie Gordon run at the Commanders 1 with 1:41 remaining in the fourth quarter when a 19-yard field goal would have broken a tie.
In dropping to 3-8, Washington settled for a 26-yard field goal after advancing to the Dolphins 2-yard line on its first possession, got stopped on consecutive snaps after reaching third-and-goal at the Miami 1 in the fourth quarter and missed field-goal attempts of 51 and 56 yards, the latter with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
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After the first 55:39 of the game passed without a turnover, Washington handed Miami two chances to win.
Washington’s Mike Sainristil muffed a punt that Miami’s Ethan Bonner recovered at the Commanders 42-yard line with 4:11 left in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins called six straight runs to reach third-and-goal at the Washington 1, but the Commanders stacked up two more runs from there to keep the score at 13-13 with 1:41 to play.
On the first play of overtime, cornerback Jack Jones put the Dolphins on the Washington 33-yard line with an interception. Miami handed the football to De’Von Achane three times in a row to reach the Commanders 11, and Riley Patterson ended the game with a 29-yard field goal on a first-and-10 kick.
The ground game dominated the offenses in a possession-oriented game that had only one three-and-out. Washington ran for 179 yards on 33 carries, and Miami gained 169 yards on 31 rushing attempts.
Playing with Jayden Daniels sidelined by an elbow injury, Washington quarterback Marcus Mariota broke a 44-yard run, and Achane ran for 120 yards on 21 carries for Miami.
A former Alabama All-American, Tagovailoa completed 14-of-20 passes for 171 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Miami tied the score at 13-13 with 12:36 left in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Gordon that capped a 10-play, 53-yard drive. Tagovailoa completed 4-of-6 passes for 40 yards, including a pair of first-down throws, on the series.
“It was just a collective team win,” Tagovailoa said. “It took offense, it took defense and it also took special teams. And we fed off each other. When defense gave us a stop, we turned it into points. And then, vice versa: When we got stopped, defense would go back and forth with that.”
After upending the Buffalo Bills 30-13 last week, Miami has run for 366 yards in its past two games, winning both even though Tagovailoa threw for a modest 344 yards in the contests.
At 4-7, the Dolphins have one week off before returning to the field against the New Orleans Saints at noon CST Nov. 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“We’re going to carry this momentum along throughout the bye week,” Tagovailoa said, “and, hopefully, take it into our next game.”
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