The Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts are coming off disappointing 8-9 seasons and looking for a path back to the playoffs in 2025.
Their respective journeys begin when they meet Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis.
The Dolphins, who missed the playoffs after reaching the AFC wild card round the prior two seasons, are looking for the explosiveness on offense they had during the 2023 campaign.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa enters his sixth season as the Dolphins’ starter and leads an offense, which has most of the same weapons but was retooled on the line in hopes of revitalizing a running game that struggled last year.
The health of Tagovailoa, who missed six games last season, will be paramount once again to Miami’s offensive success as well as the durability of receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and running back De’Von Achane, who is expected to start Sunday after dealing with a calf issue.
“A lot of times the vertical passing game has to do with your pockets, run game, things that have to be on point,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “Defenses are ready to prepare to defend speed. Until we threaten people in different ways, they are going to try to take that away. Much of our focus has been on those throws that you crave and every other aspect of the game.”
Tagovailoa will make his first career start against the Colts, the only AFC team he has not faced. Indianapolis is one of four teams Tagovailoa has never started against.
The Colts beat the Dolphins 16-10 in Indianapolis last Oct. 20, with Tyler Huntley starting in place of Tagovailoa, who was on injured reserve.
Indianapolis’ secondary, like Miami’s, was hit hard by injuries in the offseason and preseason, which led to last month’s signing of four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard — a former Dolphin — to a one-year contract. But those issues don’t seem to be major as the Colts did not list a single defensive back on their injury report on Wednesday.
The Colts, who have not made the playoffs since 2020, tabbed former New York Giants starter Daniel Jones as their Week 1 starter ahead of 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson. In Jones’ lone career start against the Dolphins on Oct. 8, 2023, he completed 14 of 20 passes for 119 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, and was sacked six times in a 31-16 loss at Miami.
Miami’s defensive front is a mix of returners like Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson and Zach Sieler, along with new additions like four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Matthew Judon, who signed last month.
“Schematically, I look at their defense and I think they do a good job and I have a lot of respect for their coordinator (Anthony Weaver),” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “He does a good job mixing things up on the back end. They’ve got good rushers. … That D-line is really solid so we have to do a good job controlling the line of scrimmage.”
The Dolphins lead the all-time series 48-29, but the Colts have won the past two meetings. Miami last beat the Colts 16-12 on Nov. 10, 2019, at Indianapolis.
Dolphins tight end Darren Waller (hip), who has been limited in practice since the summer, did not practice Wednesday.
Running back Jaylen Wright (knee) and cornerback Ethan Bonner (hamstring) also did not practice. Hill (oblique, calf), Achane, offensive tackle Austin Jackson (toe), safety Ashtyn Davis (calf) and receiver Dee Eskridge (concussion) were listed as limited.
The Colts only listed reserve running back Tyler Goodson (elbow) as having limited participation on Wednesday.