The Commanders and Dolphins gave NFL fans in Madrid an incredible game to cap off this season's international series. Washington lost 16-13 in overtime against Miami in a thrilling game for Spain's NFL fans. The game was competitive from wire to wire, but the Commanders could not come away with what would have been an important win.
Washington does deserve some credit for how they played against Miami. The Commanders are suffering through several injuries, on both sides of the ball, including a big one to QB Jayden Daniels.
The Dolphins are also a team that is incredibly focused on winning games and who came in extra motivated after waxing the Bills in Week 10.
But that has been the story of the season for the Commanders. Close, but not good enough. And always plenty of excuses.
So which players are most to blame for this ugly defeat? And could this game have easily had a different outcome?
Below we will explore the Commanders most to blame for Sunday's crushing loss against the Dolphins in Madrid.
Marcus Mariota's brutal interception cost Washington the game
On balance, Mariota played a great game for the Commanders considering he is a backup quarterback.
But he also made one of the most costly mistakes of the entire game.
Mariota went 20-of-30 passing for 213 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He even ripped off a huge 44-yard scramble that was Washington's biggest chunk play of the game.
Unfortunately, Mariota threw an ugly interception on the field play of overtime that single-handedly flipped the game in Miami's favor.
Mariota threw a pass intended for Zach Ertz, but the pass was too late and behind the veteran tight end. Dolphins cornerback Jack Jones picked it off and gave the Dolphins incredible field position. Just a few minutes later, Miami kicked the game-winning field goal.
Perhaps Mariota was still rattled after being evaluated for a concussion during third quarter.
I'm not trying to say that Washington has a problem with Mariota as their backup quarterback. But he is absolutely one of the players most to blame for this crushing defeat.
Mike Sainristil's muffed punt recovery turned the tide against Commanders
Mariota's mistake is the most obvious example that directly contributed to Washington's loss. However, it was hardly the first gaffe by the Commanders towards the end of the game.
Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil muffed a punt during the fourth quarter that almost ended up losing the game a separate time.
Sainristil fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Miami, with just over four minutes left in the game. That bailed out the Dolphins with an extra possession late in the game.
Miami drove all the way to the one-yard line and had multiple chances to punch the ball in for a likely game-winning touchdown. They even went for it on fourth down, but Ollie Gordon II got stuffed in the backfield.
The Dolphins didn't score, so shouldn't Sainristil be let off the hook?
I don't think so, especially when considering the significance of his turnover.
Washington ended up getting the ball back with 1:41 left to play. That was enough time to get into field goal range, but Matt Gay could not connect on the 56-yard attempt.
If Sainristil did not muff that punt, the Commanders would have received the ball with 4:21 left to play and in much better field position.
It is impossible to know if Washington would have turned that into points. However, it absolutely would have been a better situation than they found themselves in in reality.
The Commanders simply couldn't stop the Dolphins' running game
Washington has been haunted by some truly terrible performances against the run this season. That trend continued, and arguably got even worse, against Miami in Madrid.
The Commanders average 137.5 rushing yards allowed per game this season when accounting for Sunday's loss. But they played even worse than this average on Sunday.
Miami logged 169 rushing yards against Washington, succeeding on nearly every running play they attempted.
De'Von Achane was Miami's best runner, getting 21 carries for 120 yards. His 5.7 yards per carry show just how efficient he was despite his heavy workload.
The Dolphins also got some contributions from Ollie Gordon (nine carries for 45 yards and a touchdown) and Jaylen Wright (one carry for four yards). Miami's running game gave them enough rhythm to go toe-to-toe with Washington throughout the entire game.
There is no easy solution for the Commanders moving forward. Washington already has several defensive players on injured reserve and have very few options for replacing those players.
Sadly, the Commanders may be forced to win games down the stretch despite their terrible defense.
