Week 11 Preview - Washington Commanders vs Miami Dolphins

By: Sam Myer 11/13/2025

In week 11 the Commanders and Dolphins head overseas to Madrid for the first NFL game in Spain. The matchup will be held in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the home of world-famous Real Madrid. Unfortunately for the fans who travelled from the U.S. and the Spaniards attending their first football game, these two teams are not where they want to be this season. The Commanders had Super Bowl aspirations heading into the season, but they’ve been ravaged by injuries and poor play on defense. The Dolphins on the other hand have been plagued by inconsistent play from both sides of the ball. These 3-7 squads are looking for anything to spark confidence for the second half of the season and are hoping the overseas trip will inspire them.

Washington will be entering this international matchup shorthanded once again after they lost rookie cornerback Trey Amos to a broken fibula and Daron Payne to suspension following the loss to the Lions in week 10. The list of starters who will be absent for the Commanders continues to grow. Based on the starting lineup from week 1, there will be a whopping TEN players out due to injury or suspension. Marcus Mariota will attempt to lead the Washington offense for the fifth time this year and will be without three of his top four wideouts. On the defensive side of the ball, Javon Kinlaw and Quan Martin are the last men standing for the defensive line and secondary, respectively. With all these absences on both sides of the ball, Washington will need to play their best ball to leave Spain with a victory.

The offense has been middling since week five against the Chargers, mostly due to their inability to run the ball with their running backs. Luckily, this has been one of the Dolphins weak points on defense all season. If Washington is able to establish the run, then the pass game should open up for Marcus Mariota. On the defensive side of the ball, it will be a challenge to generate a pass rush without Daron Payne. With Dan Quinn taking over defensive play-calling duties, the Commanders should dial up more blitzes in order to disrupt the timing of Tua Tagovailoa. When Tua isn’t able to hit his back foot and find his first or second reads he had a tendency to make errant throws.

In order to force these errant throws and poor decisions from Tagovailoa, the Commanders pass coverage will need make a big step up from the last month of performances. Unfortunately, they’ll be without their top two cornerbacks in Trey Amos and Marshon Lattimore. Mike Sainristil will likely take the bulk of the responsibility covering Jaylen Waddle, who has seen a resurgence in the absence of Tyreek Hill. Additionally, Devon Achane has been one of the best running backs in the NFL this season. Washington will have a difficult time covering him out of the backfield as they’ve struggled with this all season. Bobby Wagner and Jordan Magee will need to improve their coverage quickly if they want to keep Achane in check.

Madrid should see some fireworks in their first NFL matchup due to the lackluster defenses on both sides. While it isn’t quite the matchup the NFL was hoping for given the injuries to Tyreek Hill, Jayden Daniels, and Terry McLaurin; there is still plenty of explosiveness from both offenses. I’m anticipating Washington to change their defensive strategy to a much more aggressive approach under Dan Quinn. Additionally, there should be a concerted effort to commit to the run game with Bill Croskey-Merritt and Chris Rodriguez. If Washington can run the ball and get Tua to move around in the pocket, they’ll have a great chance to head into their bye week with the a win.