It’s time for the NFL’s last International regular-season contest of 2025. The Washington Commanders will face off against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at 9:30 AM (Eastern time) in Madrid, Spain.
Commanders fans won’t be thrilled to learn that, though the Dolphins were one of the worst teams against the run for the first five weeks, Miami has defended the run much more effectively in the last five weeks. This, coupled with the Commanders’ running game really falling off over the previous few weeks, could spell quite the challenge for Washington.
What about the run defense for the Commanders? Well, Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs only needed 15 carries to accumulate 142 yards rushing last week. David Montgomery added 71 more on his 15 carries. Meanwhile, the Dolphins last week were 9.5-point underdogs but rode De’Von Achane’s 174 rushing yards on 22 carries to running away from Buffalo 30-13.
Head coach Dan Quinn demoted DC Joe Whitt this week, announcing he will take over the defense for the remainder of this season. How much difference Quinn can make defensively remains to be seen. I mean, the Commanders are playing with the same players this week, on a defense ranked 30-32 in more than a few categories. Oh, the Commanders’ defense won’t be the same, as the NFL upheld their suspension of DT Daron Payne for this week’s contest.
With Achane’s speed in running sideline to sideline, the Commanders are going to need some sort of change, make that a substantive change, because starting linebackers Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner have struggled this year running horizontally to make plays.
Washington’s run defense was so bad against the Lions last week that former Maryland Terrapin receiver/returner Steve Suder, after watching the All-22 footage, said the Commanders’ defense looked like a scout team, helping the Lions prepare for the game.