Dolphins-Seahawks Week 3 Instant Takeaways

Forgettable outing from start to finish, with injuries and mistakes galore

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) passes against the Miami Dolphins during the second quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins' Week 3 game against the Seattle Seahawks:

We'll start with the inactive list, which was highlighted again by running back Raheem Mostert, who is out with a chest injury. Also missing the game with an injury was rookie wide receiver Malik Washington, out with a quad injury.

Also inactive were CB Ethan Bonner, LB Channing Tindall, LB Mohamed Kamara and OL Andrew Meyer.

Tyler Huntley was designated as the emergency third quarterback, meaning that Tim Boyle — signed to the 53-man roster off the practice squad Saturday — was the backup to Skylar Thompson, with Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve.

FIRST QUARTER

The Dolphins started on defense after winning the toss and deferring, and Seattle got the ball at its 35 to start after Dee Williams decided to return the kick after fielding it 4 yards into the end zone.

The Seahawks quickly moved into Dolphins territory with an 18-yard completion from Geno Smith to wide receiver Tyler Lockett against zone coverage when Smith had all day to throw.

Defensive tackle Da'Shawn Hand then made two nice plays to help stop the drive. On the first, he fended off a block from former Dolphins center Connor Williams and then the guard to stop Zach Charbonnet for no gain, then easily beat guard Anthony Bradford to drop Smith for a sack.

The Dolphins started their first drive trailing 3-0 and it started off well enough, with Thompson hitting De'Von Achane down the seam for a 22-yard gain after Achane lined up as a slot receiver.

On the next play, Jaylen Wright gained 9 yards after taking a pitch, though the officials missed what looked like a blatant horsecollar tackle infraction. That might not have seemed like a big deal at the time, but it became a very big deal.

The Dolphins decided to throw on second-and-1, which is not a bad move because it's almost a free down, but Julian Hill's missed block brought pressure on Thompson and his pass was batted. Then after Jeff Wilson Jr. was stuffed for no gain on third-and-1, Mike McDaniel made the unusual decision of attempting a 57-yard field goal instead of going for the first down and the move backfired when Sanders missed wide left.

This was a flat-out bad decision by McDaniel, from this end, because Sanders really has struggled from long distance, McDaniel always has been aggressive, and a miss gave the Seahawks the ball at their 47 after the miss.

It didn't take the Seahawks long to move within the shadow of the Dolphins end zone, thanks in large part to a 22-yard completion to DK Metcalf after Smith was scrambling. Kendall Fuller had great coverage on the play but never turned around.

The Dolphins got into Seattle territory on their second drive, but negative plays again surfaced. There was a 4-yard loss by Achane on a second-and-1 run from the Seattle 43 and then Thompson dropped the snap on third-and-5 and Dramont Jones got by Terron Armstead to sack him.

The Dolphins got the big break that could help provide a spark with Kader Kohou's interception after Emmanuel Ogbah pressured Smith in the end zone and the Dolphins had a first-and-goal from the 6.

This turned into disappointment, though, because the drive fizzled after it started with an illegal motion penalty on Julian Hill, who had a very, very rough first half.

After the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal to cut their deficit to 10-3, Seattle struck quickly on the next drive when safety Jevon Holland bit hard when Metcalf made a quick move toward the middle before turning upfield, the result being an easy 71-yard touchdown for the Seahawks.

SECOND QUARTER

The next Miami drive began after a 31-yard kickoff return by Braxton Berrios and started with an 11-yard completion to Jaylen Waddle over the middle.

But the drive went south after that, starting with a 1-yard loss on a run when fullback Alec Ingold never started the play because he thought the officials were stopping it. That was followed with two plays when Thompson got pressure quickly and ended in incompletion.

Seattle used completions of 16 and 15 yards on their next drive and got to the Miami 36 before a holding penalty helped stall its drive before Jason Myers was wide left on a 53-yard field goal attempt, giving the Dolphins good field position (their 43) on their next drive.

The drive started off well enough with runs of 8 yards by Jaylen Wright and 13 yards by De'Von Achane, but the Dolphins went to pass and it went downhill.

On first-and-10 from the Seattle 36, Durham Smythe was beaten at the line by LB Derick Hall and Robert Jones couldn't get to him quickly enough to prevent an 8-yard sack. After a short completion to Waddle, Tyreek Hill dropped the pass on a wide receiver screen that likely wouldn't have converted a third-and-13.

On fourth-and-13 from the 39, McDaniel punted this time, and Jake Bailey put it in the end zone for a net punt of only 19 yards.

After a 17-yard completion, the defense stopped the Seattle drive, thanks to a sack by Zach Sieler who got around left tackle Charles Cross and a third-down blitz.

The Dolphins again got good field position for their next drive after Braxton Berrios returned a 61-yard punt for 44 yards.

That made no difference, however, because the drive was fizzled after a third-and-6 became a fourth-and-39 following a litany of penalties, including a third on Julian Hill and a third and fourth on the special teams.

Seattle's final drive of the half featured a big-time tackle by Jalen Ramsey after a swing pass to Lockett — while he was being blocked.

-- That drive also featured two penalties (holding, false start) on former Dolphins center Connor Williams.

-- The Dolphins got the ball back at their 23 for one last first-half drive, but not before they had to use all their timeouts.

-- After a 17-yard completion to Tyreek Hill, his first catch of the half, the drive bogged down until an illegal contact gave Miami a final untimed play from the Seattle 49. The half ended — maybe fittingly enough — with Thompson nailed from behind while taking forever to throw the ball when there was no time left.

-- It was a fitting and ugly ending to an ugly first half.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The second half started, sigh, with yet another special teams penalty on the Dolphins, their fifth of the game. This one was on Alec Ingold for moving before the kickoff was fielded.

-- Kendall Lamm started the second half at left tackle for Terron Armstead, who earlier left the game with an eye injury.

-- The drive featured more of the same for the Dolphins, with Thompson sacked on the third down when the offensive line left a huge gap in the middle of the line for the blitzing linebacker.

-- Thompson took a shot in the midsection on the last play and was examined on the sideline.

-- After the Dolphins ruled out Kendall Fuller with a head injury, fellow cornerback Storm Duck was injured on Seattle's second offensive play of the half.

-- The defense produced a three-and-out on Seattle's first drive, ending things with Calais Campbell getting his second sack of the season.

-- The Dolphins' next drive started with another 17-yard completion to Tyreek Hill, but on the next play Thompson stayed on the ground after taking a minimal shove, likely still feeling the effects of the first hit. Thompson left the game and walked straight to the locker room.

-- Tim Boyle came in at quarterback, but the drive stalled again because of the short-yardage woes. Alec Ingold was stuffed on third-and-1 and fumbled with Jeff Wilson Jr. recovering, but on fourth-and-3 Boyle's short pass to Braxton Berrios fell incomplete when it looked as though Boyle was expecting the receiver to continue his route.

-- The Dolphins stopped Seattle's next drive, thanks in large part to two penalties (holding, false start) on former Dolphins center Connor Williams.

-- The next Miami drive started — stop us if you've heard this before — a penalty against Julian Hill, this one for holding. That's four penalties on him, for those keeping count.

-- After Geno Smith had five straight completions to move the ball from the Seattle 19 to the Miami 39, the defense stopped up, starting with Jalen Ramsey tackling tight end A.J. Barner after only a 1-yard reception.

-- On second down, linebacker Jordyn Brooks made a big play in his return to Seattle when he got to Smith, who was called for intentional grounding to avoid a sack. Then on third down, Calais Campbell got his arm up to deflect a pass that went high into their air and into the arms of Zach Sieler for an interception.

-- The third quarter ended with a 13-yard DPI on Seattle against Alec Ingold to give Miami the ball at the Seahawks 38.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- After scrambling for 6 yards, Boyle had his best throw of the game when he sidearmed a pass to Jonnu Smith for a 13-yard completion in a bit of traffic.

-- An 11-yard completion to Julian Hill gave the Dolphins a first-and-goal from the 3, but Achane gained 1 yard on two plays and that was followed by two incompletions that turned the ball over on downs.

-- Tight end Durham Smythe came close to making a diving catch in the corner of the end zone on third-and-goal from the 2 but couldn't complete the catch.

-- So much for the Dolphins have Seattle pinned with its back to the end zone: the Seahawks went on a game-clinching 98-yard touchdown that took 11 plays and necessitated only one third-down conversion.

-- Worse, the drive ended with four consecutive runs by Zach Charbonnet, three of them for 10 yards or longer, including the 10-yard touchdown when Charbonnet was able to bounce outside to get away from Jevon Holland.

-- With 4:55 left and Seattle up 24-3, the only question now was what the final score would be.

-- The Dolphins got their biggest offensive play of the game on that next drive when Boyle hit Dee Eskridge, who was elevated from the practice squad Saturday, for a 30-yard gain.

-- But, fittingly enough, the drive stalled after Boyle was sacked and he threw incompletions on third and fourth down.

-- The final score of 24-3 marked the first time since the first four games of the 2019 season that the Dolphins lost back-to-back games by 20 points or more.