Commanders vs. Dolphins preview: Marcus Mariota play, Dan Quinn hot seat, and season expectations

The Miami Dolphins face the Washington Commanders on Sunday in the NFL’s first regular-season game from Madrid, Spain. Both teams are in the midst of seasons they did not expect, with both clubs 3-7 on the year and hoping for a spark to turn things around ahead of an offseason of retooling and rebuilding.

Miami and Washington have only met 14 times in the regular season, though they have split two Super Bowl matchups including the first meeting between the teams when Miami completed the Perfect Season in the 1972-1973 season. The Dolphins won the most recent game, beating the Commanders 45-15 in 2023.

I had a chance this week to speak with Andrew Y from SB Nation’s Commanders team site, Hogs Haven, to get a look at the 2025 season for the Commanders and what might be in their future.

You can check out the Dolphins side of our preview conversation at Hogs Haven.

Jayden Daniels’ injury was ugly and obviously changes what the Commanders were doing. How has Marcus Mariota looked and how similar or different is the game plan with him playing instead of Daniels?

So far, Mariota has looked competent whenever coming in to replace Jayden Daniels. He also has a very similar playstyle as Jayden Daniels, with good ability to progress through reads, good accuracy at various levels of the field, and athleticism to threaten as a runner, all of which makes him an excellent fit for Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. In his starts earlier this season, he led the Commanders to a 41-24 win over the Raiders, managed to score 27 points on a stingy Falcons defense, but had more trouble with tough Chiefs and Seahawks defenses where none of his receivers could get open. The offensive scheme doesn’t really change with him, though designed QB runs are less effective.

The main difference between Mariota and Jayden Daniels is that Mariota can execute the full offense and get whatever plays are created by the offensive scheme and his receivers, whereas Jayden Daniels has the additional ability to extend plays and operate outside of structure to get first downs even when the scheme/players didn’t get open. However, that has been an issue recently as receivers aren’t getting open and the offensive scheme doesn’t seem to be creating opportunities, so it’s getting stuck in the mud without Jayden’s ability to make something out of nothing. I don’t blame Mariota for this though, so much as his supporting cast for not getting open.

Injuries have clearly been the story in Washington. They currently have 11 players on injured reserve, and they continue to see players on the active roster having to miss playing time. Other than Daniels, who has been the biggest loss for the Commanders and how have they made adjustments?

It’s not just the number of players on IR, it’s the importance of those players. It seems like the best players at multiple position groups have been some of the first to get injured....