MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins’ opener against the Colts in Indianapolis will only count for one game among 17 to be played in the regular season.
But it will feel like it means so much more for Dolphins fans.
It’s the first opportunity for the franchise to redeem itself from a disappointing 8-9 record during the 2024 season. It will be the first sample of evidence of whether Miami’s offseason pivot from big spending to building through the draft again can produce immediate results. And onlookers get their first answer as to whether quarterback Tua Tagovailoa can spark his connection with wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and if the run game can effectively assist in that effort.
It all comes together as the Dolphins look to start their 2025 season with a win in Sunday’s 1 p.m. kickoff at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I don’t think anything that’s happened before this year matters to this team,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “We’re going to have to go earn, the hard way, a win from a team that wants to win as bad as we do.”
Miami has won its past four openers, the past three while under the tutelage of McDaniel and all four with Tagovailoa the starting quarterback.
Indianapolis hasn’t won a Week 1 game in the past 11 seasons, 10 losses and one tie.
“Hopefully, they see those records,” McDaniel quipped, “and they’re just like, ‘Yeah, we stand no chance; we’re just going to take a knee every play.’ ”
The Dolphins traveled to Indianapolis last year and lost an ugly 16-10 decision that proved pivotal toward their failure to make the playoffs by season’s end.
It was without Tagovailoa, who was forced to sit out for a fourth and final game due to his placement on injured reserve to recover from a concussion. A combination of Tyler “Snoop” Huntley and Tim Boyle played quarterback that October afternoon in Indianapolis.
“It’s always a struggle when you’re not able to be out there with your guys you work countlessly, you work tirelessly with,” Tagovailoa said, “and just can’t do anything to help but cheer them on or have communication with them on the sideline. I’ve said it many times, but I really can’t be putting the team in that situation.”
As Tagovailoa aims to stay healthy for a full season for the second time in his career, his first shot comes against a familiar face in longtime Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, who debuts for the Colts after playing 102 regular-season and postseason games with Miami but being out of football in 2024.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for (Howard),” Tagovailoa said. “He was really ‘The Last of the Mohicans.’ When I got in, he was the OG when I got in here, so I’ve got a lot of respect for him and I think he was the longest-(tenured) Dolphin that I can remember since being here.”
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Tagovailoa looks to rekindle his on-field rapport with Hill and Waddle after a down year last season. Along with Howard, the Colts added cornerback Charvarius Ward in the offseason and have a decent nickel in Kenny Moore.
Regardless of the actual defensive backs, a big reason neither Hill nor Waddle reached 1,000 receiving yards last season for the first time as Dolphins was a spike in two-high safety shell coverage opponents played in 2024. It’s something new senior passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik, who struggled as Houston Texans offensive coordinator last year, noted has been going on across the NFL.
An effective ground game can help manipulate the Colts defense to get out of those coverages and respect the run by bringing a safety into the box.
The Dolphins will feature a combination of speedy third-year running back De’Von Achane and rookie power runner Ollie Gordon II after losing veteran signing Alexander Mattison to a neck injury in the preseason and having second-year tailback Jaylen Wright out early with an ailing knee. Achane himself has been hampered by a calf injury in recent weeks, but it won’t keep him off the field Sunday.
Gordon brings an added element of physicality in the run game that’s needed. It’s something Miami also hopes to get from new starters on the offensive line: second-year left tackle Patrick Paul, rookie left guard Jonah Savaiinaea and veteran right guard James Daniels, who is questionable with an ankle injury.
The Colts have physicality of their own the Dolphins need to be wary of. They have a strong left side of the offensive line with perennial All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and budding left tackle Bernhard Raimann, and running back Jonathan Taylor is one of the toughest to bring down in the league.
Tackling, which can sometimes be troublesome in a Week 1 game, will be vital.
“Our coaches always say, ‘They have yet to create a player who can run without his legs,’ ” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said this week.
Miami linebackers coach Joe Barry was pleased to find out Brooks was repeating one of his main teaching points on how to attack Taylor.
Stopping the run will be the first key for the Dolphins defense, before their unproven secondary is put against quarterback Daniel Jones and his talented receiving trio of Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Josh Downs in a passing game that also has rookie tight end Tyler Warren in the mix.
Sunday also marks the regular-season debuts for a number of Dolphins rookies expected to play pivotal roles.
“It’s their first NFL game, not just of the year,” McDaniel said, “with a packed stadium that is only cheering when the result doesn’t fall in your favor. That’s a different atmosphere.”
Gordon, Savaiinaea, first-round pick and defensive tackle Kenneth Grant and cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. should all be big factors in Sunday’s game with a chance fellow rookies in defensive tackles Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers also rotate in.
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