The 2025 football season has arrived. Before three consecutive divisional games, the Dolphins will open the new campaign against the Indianapolis Colts, making the trip to Lucas Oil Stadium for a second year in a row.
Miami and Indianapolis met last year in Week 7 with the home team emerging victorious 16-10. The starting quarterbacks will be different for this latest installment.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will make his fifth opening day start for the Dolphins. He is 4-0 in Week 1 games, averaging 319 passing yards per game with seven total touchdowns and a passer rating of 100.6.
Week 1 games offer a unique challenge, especially when playing a team with a new defensive coordinator.
"It's always tough because I think we are a nuance to teams where they might show one thing against us but never show it again against another team," Tagovailoa said of game planning against Colts new Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo's scheme. "Then that's how other teams build off of… So I would say week to week is always going to be a challenge, but you go off of the base and the fundamentals of what their defensive structure is and then you go from there and you build off of that."
Quarterback Daniel Jones will make his first start as a member of the Colts. He battled with former fourth overall draft pick Anthony Richardson and came out the victor to lead the Colts this season. With Jones under center, the Colts are in search of their first opening day win since 2013.
In six years with the New York Giants, Jones was 24-44-1 as a starter with an 84.3 passer rating. The Colts have surrounded Jones with weapons, including a pair of security blanket options against a potentially ferocious Dolphins pass rush. Running back Jonathan Taylor and rookie tight end Tyler Warren are two of the most talented pass catchers at their positions.
The Colts' ground attack runs through Taylor and should be aided by the inclusion of Warren as a blocker. After an injury-plagued 2023 season, Taylor was back to dominance with 1,431 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns despite playing just 14 games last season. He averages 4.9 yards per carry on 1,228 career rushing attempts.
The Dolphins will look to match the Colts' prowess up front. Miami invested in the front seven this offseason, signing defensive tackle Zach Sieler to a contract extension after consecutive double-digit-sack seasons and selecting Michigan's Kenneth Grant with the 13th overall pick in this year's draft. The Dolphins also added to the defensive line by selecting Maryland's Jordan Phillips in the fifth round and Zeek Bigger out of Georgia Tech in the seventh round.
The Dolphins also get outside linebackers Bradely Chubb and Jaelan Phillips back from injuries that cost the pair all but four cumulative games in 2024. Miami's run defense has historically been difficult to crack with both Chubb and Phillips in the lineup.
In the last nine games that Chubb and Phillips played together (in 2023), Miami allowed an average of just 87.6 yards per game, including the last two games totaling 29 and 36 yards respectively.
Back on offense, the Dolphins hope to strike a balance between the 2023 and 2024 versions of the offense. In 2023, Miami was the most dangerous downfield attack in the game. In 2024, with teams playing off and respecting the deep ball, the offense became more condensed.
In his first five games back from the injury last season, Tagovailoa threw for 1,277 yards, 11 touchdowns and a 116.2 passer rating. During that stretch, the run game produced 513 yards on the ground. Establishing that balance will be critical this game and all season.
"Until we threaten people in different ways, that they'll try to take that away, so much of our focus has been both on those throws that you crave, as well as every other aspect of the game because our team likes faster drives and shorter drives, as well, that equal points," Head Coach Mike McDaniel said. "I think it's all related but not exclusive to that down the field passing, because you have to control the line of scrimmage and give guys a reason to defend space that's lower or closer to the line of scrimmage, and when you do that, things will open up."
The Dolphins lead the all-time series 48-29 against the Colts. More recently, Indianapolis has won four of the last five meetings and eight of the last 10. There is no weather to track ahead of kickoff. The game will be contested inside the Lucas Oil Stadium dome.
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, September 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, and listen on the Dolphins Radio Network and view the Game Center for the latest coverage.
