The Miami Dolphins hit the road for the first time this season, and will travel across the country to take on the 2-0 Seattle Seahawks. The Dolphins are coming off a 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on "Thursday Night Football," while the Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in overtime, 23-20.
The headline of this matchup, of course, has to do with the Dolphins quarterback situation, as Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion last week, and will miss at least the next four games. In steps Skylar Thompson, who will start and take on what is tied for being the No. 2 passing defense in the NFL.
Can Thompson find a way to spark this offense loaded with playmakers? Can rookie head coach Mike Macdonald get the Seahawks off to a 3-0 start? Let's break down this Week 3 interconference showdown. First, here's how you can watch the game:
How to watch
Date: Sunday, Sept. 22 | Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Location: Lumen Field (Seattle)
Channel: CBS | Stream: Paramount+
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Seahawks -4.5 O/U 41.5
All NFL odds are via SportsLine Consensus.
Trends
- Dolphins lead all-time series 10-6 (including postseason)
- 25 years ago, these teams met in the 1999 Wild Card. It was the final win of Dan Marino's career, and the Seahawks' final game in the Kingdome
- The Seahawks have failed to cover seven straight games as a favorite (0-3-4 ATS)
- The Dolphins are 8-0 with the crew of Kevin Harlan, Trent Green and Melanie Collins since 2022. They are averaging 35.8 points per game, 455.8 total yards per game and own a +92 point differential in that span
When the Dolphins have the ball
All eyes will be on the new quarterback, Skylar Thompson -- the 27-year-old former seventh-round pick out of Kansas State. He became a preseason darling his first year, and made the final 53-man roster. In the 2024 preseason, Thompson beat out Mike White for the No. 2 job. In eight career games played, Thompson has thrown for 614 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions while going 1-1 as a starter.
We know this Mike McDaniel offense is built for Tagovailoa, and it doesn't look the same when he's inactive. Including playoffs, the Dolphins have played five games without Tua. They are 1-4, have averaged fewer than 20 points per game and have thrown more interceptions (7) than touchdowns (5). The lone win was an 11-6 victory over the lowly New York Jets in Week 18 of the 2022 campaign to clinch a playoff spot. Miami didn't even score a touchdown in that game.
It's true that the Dolphins have some great weapons such as Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but in the five games Tagovailoa has missed, Hill has yet to score a touchdown, and has recorded 100 receiving yards just once. As one of the best players in the entire NFL, Hill should be part of the game plan. But De'Von Achane may be the weapon that makes life easier on Thompson.
The second-year speedster ranks fifth in the NFL in touches with 46, and third in scrimmage yards with 265. Despite being listed as questionable to play in Week 2 with an ankle injury, Achane was given a career-high 29 touches, and became the first Dolphin to record 100 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in each of the first two games of a season since Ricky Williams accomplished the feat in 2003.
With the Dolphins working in a new quarterback, could Achane be given 20 touches again? The three times he's recorded 20 touches, he's averaged 167 yards from scrimmage, scored a total of seven touchdowns and averaged 7.1 yards per touch. In his 13 career games, Achane has averaged over five yards per touch in 10 of them. He has also had 100 scrimmage yards in seven of those 13 career games.
When the Seahawks have the ball
The Seahawks really struggled to get the ground game going in New England without Kenneth Walker III in the lineup, so Geno Smith threw the ball 44 times. It actually led to a historic outing, as DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba became the first duo in franchise history to both record 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards in the same game.
The JSN truthers were vindicated, as he was targeted a whopping 16 times last Sunday, the fourth most of any player in a game this season. He was targeted just twice in Week 1! It was Smith-Njigba's first 100-yard receiving game since he caught 15 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns against Utah in the 2022 Rose Bowl.
I do expect Ryan Grubb's offense to come out passing the ball on Sunday -- especially if Walker misses another game. Smith's 33 passing completions last week marked a career high, and he's the only quarterback in Seahawks franchise history to have multiple games where he completed at least 30 passes with a 75% completion percentage, and total 300 yards passing.
The Dolphins do have some names in their secondary, such as Jalen Ramsey, Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer. But accounting for Metcalf, JSN and Tyler Lockett is quite a job.
Prediction
Did you know that the Dolphins have never been below .500 with McDaniel as head coach? Miami is 5-0 under McDaniel when entering a game with a .500 record, but that's a trend that ends this weekend. The Dolphins are 3-9 with McDaniel when facing teams with a winning record, and taking a backup quarterback on the road across the country in your first away game of the season against a defense that has gotten off to a great start is ... less than ideal.
Projected score: Seahawks 23-17
