Where did that come from? And who was that Miami Dolphins team on Sunday?

In arguably Week 8’s biggest stunner, the Dolphins beat the absolute snot out of the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, 34-10. With the win, Miami handed Atlanta one of its most lopsided defeats in Mercedes-Benz Stadium history.

Talk about tailor-made for some rapid overreactions. Let’s dive into three overreactions following the Dolphins’ Week 8 romp over the Atlanta Falcons:

The Dolphins’ defense turned a corner

Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and his unit have been under the gun from the onset of this 2025 season. And deservedly so. Miami brought the league’s No. 26 total defense into Sunday and its No. 29 scoring defense.

Nothing about Sunday would have indicated that was the case. The Dolphins looked like a good defensive outfit against the Falcons.

Miami authored its best defensive performance of the season, limiting Atlanta to just 213 yards of total offense. Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson came up with a fumble recovery, Miami turned Atlanta over on downs twice, and the Dolphins forced four Falcons punts.

Sure, Miami matched up against Atlanta backup quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Falcons were without top receiver Drake London, but the Dolphins looked like a good defense on Sunday. That’s something worth celebrating and it just might be something to build upon.

Tua Tagovailoa’s days as the Dolphins’ franchise quarterback aren’t completely numbered

After one of his career-worst performances at the Browns, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa bounced back with one of his best. Playing with a swollen left eye, Tagovailoa proved that maybe having two eyes is overrated.

Tagovailoa enjoyed arguably his best game of the season, completing 20 of his 26 passes for 205 yards with four touchdown passes and zero interceptions. It’s just the third game this season where Tagovailoa finished with zero picks.

After his dreadful performance last week, Tagovailoa’s future with the Dolphins was one of the NFL’s biggest storylines coming into Week 8. Tagovailoa entered Sunday tied with Raiders quarterback Geno Smith for the league-lead in interceptions thrown.

For at least one Sunday, Tagovailoa answered his critics in a big way.

Mike McDaniel ain’t going anywhere

After last week’s humiliating 31-6 loss at the Cleveland Browns, many felt Mike McDaniel was finally a dead man walking. Instead, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that no immediate changes were expected.

NBC and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio revealed last Sunday night that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had initially planned to wait until after the season to make a decision on a potential coaching change.

After Sunday’s performance, McDaniel isn’t going anywhere. At least not any time soon.