The Phinsider
The Miami Dolphins survived some incredible late-game madness in week thirteen to outlast the New Orleans Saints by a score of 21-17 to win their third straight game — pulling their record to 5-7 after starting the season a woeful 1-5.
After taking a 16-0 lead at half, the Dolphins’ offense managed to put just three points on the scoreboard during the final two quarters of play, while the Saints — led by rookie quarterback Tyler Shough and 2024 7th-round wide receiver Devaughn Vele — put up 17 second-half points, and were a 2-point conversion away from tying the game late. That attempted pass from Shough was intercepted by Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and returned all the way for the rare Pick-2 to give Miami a four-point lead.
Everything played out normally from there, right?
Wrong.
The Saints would immediately recover an onside kick after officials deemed the football touched by a Miami player. Needing a touchdown to win (thanks to those two points scored by Fitzpatrick), the Saints found themselves attempting a 4th & 1 conversion with a little over 30-seconds remaining to keep their hopes alive. Shough went for the quarterback sneak, but was stuffed short of the first-down marker.
And just like that, the Dolphins eked out the not-so-easy win to claim victory for the third straight contest.
While there have been plenty of disappointments in 2025 for the Miami Dolphins, third-year running back De’Von Achane isn’t one of them. On Sunday against the Saints, he carried the ball 22 times for 134 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown. He was nearly the entire offense for a struggling Miami squad.
Such has been the case for the entire year, as Achane now has 1,034 rushing yards on the season — his first time surpassing the 1,000 yard rushing mark in his young career.
Ricky Williams’ franchise record 1,853 rushing yards put up in 2002 is likely safe, however Achane could find himself sitting at #2 on that all—time list if he can muster just 67.6 rushing yards per game to close the year and surpass Williams’ 1,372 rushing yards in 2003.
The New Orleans Saints came into week thirteen with just 24 sacks on the season — a number that had them ranked 17th in the National Football League in that category. Against the Miami Dolphins offensive line, New Orleans notched another four quarterback takedowns — giving Tua Tagovailoa fits throughout the entire contest.
The ever-dominant Cameron Jordan had two sacks. Bryan Bresee had one, and so did Chase Young.
With a quarterback as injury-prone as Tagovailoa, allowing him to be hit as often as he was against the Saints was certainly not the gameplan heading into the clash. If Miami wants to keep their oft-concussed signal-caller on the field through the end of the season, offensive line coach Butch Barry better get...
