The Miami Dolphins completed their international schedule with a 16–13 overtime win against the Washington Commanders at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday, the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Spain. The Week 11 victory, Miami's first win in a European venue since 2014, bumped their record to 4–7. It also gave quarterback Tua Tagovailoa his long-awaited breakthrough overseas after previous losses in London and Frankfurt.
Tagovailoa has now appeared in three international games in his career. In 2021, he threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns on 33-of-47 passing in a 23–20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. In 2023, he recorded 193 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-34 passing in Frankfurt, where Miami lost 21–14 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tagovailoa completed 14 of 20 passes for 171 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and three sacks against the Commanders. The Dolphins relied heavily on running back De’Von Achane, who totaled 120 rushing yards on 21 carries along with five receptions for 45 yards. Washington nearly stole the game, but its 56-yard attempt in the final seconds missed right, allowing Miami to escape. On the first snap of overtime, Jack Jones intercepted Marcus Mariota, leading to Riley Patterson’s 29-yard walk-off field goal.
After the win, Tagovailoa was asked which international destination he’d like to see next. He first mentioned Hawaii, where his family still lives, before offering a more surprising answer.
“Shoot, it’d be pretty cool to go play in Jerusalem. … That’d be sick,” he said (h/t NFL Insider Jordan Schultz).
His answer was unexpected, given the NFL has never held a regular-season game in the Middle East and has expressed no interest in doing so. The region’s ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis make such a game highly unlikely, and logistical challenges further complicate the idea. Jerusalem’s two stadiums, with more than 30,000 seats, both fall short of the NFL’s smallest international attendance benchmark, of over 47,000, which was used in prior global games.
The game concluded the seventh international contest of the 2025 season, joining earlier matchups in Brazil, Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The league’s International Series, which began in 2007, continues to expand, with future games scheduled in Mexico and the UK, and the first-ever game in Australia set for 2026. Commissioner Roger Goodell has also stated that the league plans to explore Asia after Australia.
