Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields played Sunday’s game like it was a Saturday showdown between Alabama and Ohio State, each putting up numbers only seen in an NCAA football video game in the Dolphins’ 35-32 win Chicago. Tagovailoa became the first quarterback in Dolphins history with 300 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and no interceptions in consecutive games thanks to his 302 passing yards and three scores in 21-of-30 passing.
Fields came on with an unprecedented performance with Tagovailoa and his powerful pass catchers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Fields became the first player in NFL history to have three passing touchdowns and 150+ rushing yards in the same game. He also broke the NFL regular-season rushing yards record in singles games with 178 grounded yards against Miami, 61 of which were his only rushing result of the day. Fields’ quick touchdown marked the longest run of his career. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick set the previous record for 173 rushing yards in Week 13 of the 2002 season against the Minnesota Vikings.
One of the key differences between Tagovailoa and Fields’ afternoon was how Miami’s playmakers did some magic themselves, as essentially everything the Bears did offensively stemmed solely from Fields’ unique brilliance. Hill finished his season with seven receptions, 143 yards and a three-yard touchdown, bringing his season total for yards to 1,104, the most in a player’s first nine games of the Super Bowl era. Hill surpassed Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,083 yards in his first nine games of the 2013 season.
Waddle also showed up for his quarterback, recording 85 receiving yards and a touchdown on five catches. The dynamic Dolphins duo have conceded 1,916 combined yards this season, the most from teammates in nine Super Bowl-era games. They broke the previous record of 1,878 yards set by “The Greatest Show on Turf,” the awesome tandem of Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.
The Dolphins scored touchdowns on four of their first five offensive possessions, with their fifth score of the day coming on the Bears’ first punt, which they blocked for a 25-yard return score. Fields had one last chance to lead the Bears into overtime or a win, with Chicago taking possession of the football with 2:50 left. He was only able to get one first down before a sack and back-to-back incompletions thwarted their last-ditch efforts.
The win puts the Dolphins 6-3 overall and 6-0 this season when Tagovailoa starts and finishes a game. Chicago falls to 3-6 overall with losses in five of their last six games after starting the season 2-1.
Why the dolphins won
The Dolphins were unstoppable from the start, scoring an offensive touchdown on four of their first five drives, in addition to their special teams’ seven points blocking a punt for a score. Tagovailoa completed his first nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown on the Dolphins’ first two touchdown drives. The Shanahan offense, which head coach Mike McDaniel imported to Miami — after working with current San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in 14 of his 15 NFL seasons as an assistant with five different teams — has his quarterback’s game up raised another level. Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing yards per try (9.2) and passer rating (115.9) over nine weeks. If he can maintain that level through the end of the season, Tagovailoa would become the first Dolphin to lead the NFL in passer scoring since Dan Marino’s 1984 MVP season.
Tagovailoa’s best was needed after Fields’ career-long 61-yard rushing touchdown reduced Miami’s lead to three, 28-25. He delivered, marching the Dolphins 75 yards to the end of the field and underlining the drive with his third and final touchdown of the day to trade the deadline pickup and ran Jeff Wilson Jr. back. The connection extended Miami’s lead to doubles digits, 35-25. McDaniel continues to rebuild the 49ers backfield he coached for five seasons (2017–2021), with both Raheem Mostert and Wilson Jr. again topping his running back depth list.
Why the bears lost
Playing from behind isn’t a recipe for success for this Bears team, which dominates football with 59.5% of their offensive plays, the highest rate in the NFL. Chicago suffered 11-point deficits twice, 21-10 in the second quarter and 28-17 in the third quarter. Fields’ legs and arms accounted for 301 of Chicago’s 378 total yards, with running back David Montgomery becoming the team’s second-leading rusher with 36 yards on 14 carries and wide receiver Darnell Mooney becoming the team’s leading receiver with 43 yards and a touchdown ended seven catches. The quarterback had just one more carry, 15, but 142 more rushing yards than Montgomery.
In order for the Bears to end these types of offensive seesaw games, Fields needs more of his supporting cast. His final pass of the day caught a diving Equanimeous St. Brown in the chest, but the receiver failed to hold down a potentially game-extending catch. Tight end Cole Kmet had a career-high two touchdowns in the red zone, but he didn’t add much to offense as he could regularly help move the chains and finished with five receptions for 41 receiving yards.
turning point
Wilson Jr.’s 10-yard catch-and-run for six was the game-winning touchdown and created a double-digit lead that Fields and the Bears simply couldn’t match before regulation ended. The newly acquired running back led the Dolphins in carries along with him and Mostert with nine apiece. However, the Dolphins’ newest former 49er running back led the team with 51 in rushing yards. It’s been an encouraging debut as McDaniel continues to reintegrate Wilson Jr. into his game schedules with ever-increasing volumes.
game of the game
The game of the game is Miami’s blocked punt, which they return for a touchdown as they needed all five touchdowns the team scored today to thwart Fields’ historic outing. Sunday’s special teams result allowed the Dolphins to relax for the first time since giving them their first double-digit lead of the game, 21-10.
What’s next
The Dolphins will return home for one more game before their Week 11 reunion against the Cleveland Browns. The Bears host one of their NFC North rivals, the Detroit Lions, in Week 10, a team that defeated Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 15-9. The Lions forced the consecutive NFL MVP to multiple interceptions in a league game for the first time since Week 17 in the 2013 season.