In just his third game as head coach, Mike Macdonald has led the Seattle Seahawks to a strong start, putting them two games ahead in the division. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins are once again grappling with uncertainty at quarterback.
“All that matters is that we win, however we get it done,” Seahawks QB Geno Smith stated. “I’m not picky about it; being 3-0 is a fantastic start.”
Smith threw for 289 yards and connected with DK Metcalf for a 71-yard touchdown, while Zach Charbonnet scored two rushing touchdowns, helping Seattle defeat Miami 24-3. The focus now shifts to yet another quarterback injury for the Dolphins.
After Tua Tagovailoa suffered his third concussion in two years, Skylar Thompson went down with a chest injury in the second half, forcing Tim Boyle to take over as Miami trailed 17-3.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel confirmed that Thompson had a painful rib injury. “You have to consider everything and find a way to give your team the best chance to win,” he said. “This happened to us last year, and the league doesn’t care about our struggles, so we need to improve as a team.”
Thompson was injured in the third quarter after being hit by Dre’Mont Jones following a pass. He had completed 13 of 19 passes for 107 yards before leaving the game, and he was sacked five times.
Seattle is the first team since the Steelers in 1979 to start 3-0 while limiting each opponent to under 150 passing yards. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle managed only seven catches for 66 yards combined.
“It’s a dangerous team; you have to be careful with the usual suspects,” Macdonald noted. “Our front played incredibly hard.”
Tagovailoa traveled to Seattle a week after suffering his concussion against Buffalo, and the Dolphins were optimistic about Thompson’s ability to maintain their offensive momentum. However, Miami could only manage a 23-yard field goal by Jason Sanders in the first quarter, finishing with just 205 total yards.
“I’ve never won a game scoring just three points, so we need to improve quickly,” McDaniel said.
Miami had an opportunity to narrow the gap early in the fourth quarter after Smith threw his second interception, but they failed to score on four attempts from the Seattle 3-yard line.
Seattle responded with a 98-yard drive that ended in Charbonnet’s 10-yard touchdown run with just under five minutes remaining. Charbonnet rushed for 91 yards on 18 carries, while Smith completed 26 of 34 passes, including the long touchdown to Metcalf.
The Seahawks improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2020.
“We always talk about finishing the game, and that was our chance to be aggressive,” Charbonnet said. “I think we did a great job.”
Seattle started strong, with Smith throwing for 133 yards in the first quarter, highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown catch by Metcalf. However, offensive progress was hindered by penalties, with both teams committing 11 infractions.
“The only thing that really held us back today was the dumb penalties,” Metcalf added.