The Dolphins will tee it up at Hard Rock Stadium one more time in the 2025 season. The Buccaneers will visit South Florida for the first time since 2017, this time in search of a fifth consecutive NFC South title. Tampa Bay needs a win, or a Panthers loss vs. Seattle, to create a win-and-in scenario for their head-to-head matchup with Carolina in Week 18.
"What I like about them being in the hunt is that you know what that means for what type of team," Head Coach Mike McDaniel said. "The Bucs are going to be very on it, it's going to be important to them. From a competitive standpoint, that's what our team needs to go against and beat, is somebody that needs the win. From our vantage point, I like the competition of it."
Dolphins rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers will make the second start of his career. The statistics didn't do Ewers' debut justice – he played with poise in his first start. Now, he has a normal week of preparation as the starter and looks to build off last week in his encore appearance.
"I was trying to build a routine for the first 15 weeks, but I couldn't tell if that was successful because I wasn't playing. Building other things in and taking other things out of my routine I think had been important for me throughout the week because obviously I have less time to do certain things because I have to focus more on other things. I'm feeling good with where I'm at in my routine. I think all of us football players are creatures of habit, so big on routine."
On the opposing sideline, another quarterback from the state of Texas. Baker Mayfield faced the challenge of replacing the greatest quarterback to ever play, Tom Brady, in Tampa. All he's done since: go two-for-two on NFC South championships, win a playoff game and throw for nearly 12,000 yards and 92 touchdowns.
The Bucs began this season 5-1 but have faltered since the hot start. They've won just two of their last eight games with injuries playing a big part in the downturn. Marquee names like left tackle Tristan Wirfs, right tackle Luke Goedeke, and wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Emeka Egbuka have all missed time over the last eight games.
Wifrs was ruled out for Sunday's game alongside outside linebacker Anthony Nelson. Goedeke, Evans and Godwin are all on the injury report this week, but each player could start Sunday's game, giving the Bucs their full offensive arsenal.
"A week ago, I thought our strain and our effort and our spirit was right; our execution was poor," Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver said. "What we were victim of was a lack of execution and it doesn't matter what level you play football on, when that happens, you're going to give up points. I blame myself for that. Our process needs to be better throughout these weeks and we got to make sure we remedy that this week."
Miami's bounce back will have to happen without safety Minkah Fitzapatrick, who will miss his second straight game after he suffered a calf injury in Pittsburgh.
The Dolphins and Bucs have only played 12 times in the regular season. Tampa Bay has the advantage with seven wins to five for Miami, including wins in each of the last there matchups. The last time the Dolphins defeated the Bucs was the 2009 season when kicker Dan Carpenter split the uprights as time expired for a 25-23 victory.
Make sure to check out the Injury Report and the team's official social media accounts 90 minutes before kickoff to see who is active for the game.
Watch the game live on Sunday, December 28 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, and listen on the Dolphins Radio Network and view the Game Center for the latest coverage.
