The Washington Commanders (4-8) host the Miami Dolphins (8-3) on Sunday in a meeting of two teams heading in opposite directions.
The Commanders enter Week 13, having lost three straight and five of six. Washington fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer after last week’s embarrassing 45-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
The Dolphins are one of the NFL’s best teams, powered by an explosive offense led by wide receivers Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Here are six stats and facts to know ahead of the Week 13 meeting between the Dolphins and Commanders.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa having an MVP season
Tua Tagovailoa is having an MVP-type season. You hear more about other quarterbacks, such as Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts and others, but Tagovailoa is arguably playing as well, if not better, than any quarterback in the NFL right now. He deserves more respect.
- 2nd in passing yards per game
- 3rd in touchdown passes
- 2nd in yards per attempt
- 3rd in completion percentage
- 3rd in passing yards per game
- 4th in total passing yards
- 6th in completions
- 10th in total QBR
- 4th in QB rating
Tyreek Hill's greatness
Tyreek Hill has 1,324 yards in receiving through 11 games. He’s averaging over 120 yards per game. Calvin Johnson has the NFL record of 1,964 receiving yards in a single season. That means Hill has six games to break Johnson’s record. Of course, Johnson did it in 16 games, but that wouldn’t diminish Hill’s greatness. Hill could go for 200 yards against Washington’s secondary.
Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert is 2nd in the NFL in touchdowns scored
Lost in all of Miami’s offensive success is running back Raheem Mostert’s season. The 31-year-old veteran has scored 15 touchdowns — one behind Christian McCaffrey for the NFL lead — and rushed for 785 yards — also behind McCaffrey. His 13 rushing touchdowns lead the NFL. Mostert is the NFL’s most unheralded player in 2023.
Don't forget about Jaylen Waddle
The Dolphins have the Top-2 highest-graded WRs in the AFC 😳 pic.twitter.com/gSOtr2TnNi
— PFF (@PFF) November 28, 2023
No team has a pair of receivers like Hill and Jaylen Waddle. While it’s easy to forget about Waddle sometimes, he has 691 receiving yards in 10 games.
The last meeting
What a difference four years can make. The Commanders were the Redskins in 2019, the last time these two teams met. That’s two nicknames ago. At the time of this game, many believed the Dolphins were tanking. Both teams were winless heading into Week 6, and Washington coach Jay Gruden had just been fired. This game ended as the Dolphins went for a two-point conversion and failed, preserving a Washington win.
If only Washington had lost that game, the franchise may have landed the No. 1 overall pick and Joe Burrow. What a difference one win can mean for the trajectory of your franchise.
More history for Sam Howell
Sam Howell made history last week, becoming only the sixth quarterback in NFL history to eclipse 3,500 passing yards in their first 13 career games. That list includes Patrick Mahomes, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Marc Bulger and Justin Herbert. That’s some pretty good company for Howell.
