Three must-see games for 2025 Miami Dolphins

Assuming quarterback Tua Tagovailoa can stay healthy and wide receiver Tyreek Hill regains the form that led to eight straight Pro Bowl appearances before last season, this mid-season matchup on Thursday Night Football promises to be a shootout.  

Week 11 vs. Washington Commanders

This year, Miami and Washington will meet at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for the NFL’s first ever regular season game in Spain.

When the teams last met in 2023, the Dolphins beat Ron Rivera’s Commanders, 45-15. After replacing Rivera with head coach Dan Quinn in 2024, Washington made it all the way to the NFC Championship game, where the team eventually fell to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Quinn’s last trip to the big game came in 2016 when his Atlanta Falcons lost a heartbreaker to Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Back then, Quinn had a 33-year-old offensive assistant named Mike McDaniel, who took over as the Dolphins’ head coach in 2022. This year, he’ll look to go 2-0 against his former mentor.

Week 16 vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Passing records beware when Cincinnati receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins join Hill and Jaylen Waddle for a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Chase led the league with 127 receptions for 1,708 yards last season, while Higgins earned a four-year, $115M contract extension with 911 yards and 10 touchdowns in only 12 games.

Higgins helped the Bengals beat the Dolphins, 27-15, with 124 yards and a score when the teams last met in 2022, the year quarterback Joe Burrow finished as the league’s fifth-leading passer and helped lead Cincinnati to Super Bowl LVI.

Last season, Burrow led the NFL with 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns but failed to take his team to the playoffs. Notoriously slow starters, the Bengals went 1-4 to start the regular season but went 5-0 to end the year.

With this year’s game falling in late December and the NFC South champion Buccaneers scheduled for Week 17, the Dolphins should have their hands full in what could be a critical game against the Bengals.