The Dolphins got their best offensive showing of the year against Atlanta, but it came with a costly blow on defense. Cornerback Storm Duck suffered a season-ending knee injury, per Marcel Louis-Jacques, thinning a secondary that had just helped clamp down on Bijan Robinson in a 34-10 win.
Even so, Miami’s locker room finally exhaled as Tua Tagovailoa snapped out of his slump with four touchdown passes and crisp pocket command.
Tua Tagovailoa “let it loose” against the Falcons, Mike McDaniel said. He played quarterback well, and he led very well, Mike added.
The sentiment, shared by Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post, doubled as both a mantra and a subtle directive: stop overthinking, rip through reads, and trust the throw. That was obvious on timing shots to the boundary and red-zone decisiveness that had been missing during the 1-5 start.
Context made the response feel bigger than one Sunday. Miami’s third-down execution had been stuck in the mud, and penalties kept stepping on drives. Against Atlanta, the script flipped: early-down rhythm throws to get Tua in tempo, quick-game to keep protections clean, then layered play-action once the run threat forced safeties to flatten.
The ball came out on time, and Miami lived in manageable third downs. McDaniel also gave his quarterback layups, RPOs, glance routes, and motion tells to speed up answers before the rush arrived.
Defensively, the plan to smother Robinson worked because of numbers at the point of attack and rally tackling from the nickel and safeties. Losing Duck for the year is a gut punch, but the structure held up with multiple hats to the ball and better edge fits, which let the pass rush hunt in longer yardage.
Short week realities now collide with the good vibes. The shoulder/foot maintenance for Bradley Chubb bears watching, and Duck’s absence forces immediate snap redistribution outside. Still, if the offense keeps packaging quick rhythm with selective deep shots, and Tua keeps “letting it loose,” Miami has a repeatable path to competence even while the defense reshuffles.
The Dolphins are preparing for Lamar Jackson on Thursday night, regardless of his official listing, expecting to see the All-Pro while keeping Tyler Huntley contingencies on deck. That means option rules, compressing rush lanes, and leveraging spies without gifting wide-open voids. With cornerback depth stressed, clean tackling and penalty discipline become the margin.
