Jude Magnotti ’26
EE Sports Columnist
Have you ever played Madden before? Well, if you have I guarantee you that there was one thing you did as soon as you got the game. You chose your favorite team, turned the difficulty to rookie, then proceeded to absolutely to destroy your least favorite team by 70 points. Of course, people would say to you: “That’s too easy!” or “That’s not real football!”. Well guess what ladies and gentlemen, the Miami Dolphins just made it real.
In their week 3 matchup against the Denver Broncos at home, the Dolphins absolutely trashed the Broncos 70-20 with over 700 yards of combined offense. The Broncos have struggled this year no doubt, but never would have anyone, even a Dolphins fan like myself, thought that they would decide to turn into a freshman high school football team.
The game did not start off well for the Broncos with the Dolphins first drive ending in a 54 yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins then doubled down on their offense and scored a second touchdown on an 8 yard run by rookie Devon Achane. Luckily for the Broncos, they responded by driving down the field and punching in a touchdown of their own. Unfortunately for the Broncos, this is the closest the score would be all game. With a few turnovers and a no-look pass from Tua, the Dolphins found themselves up 35-13 at half time.
In no way was this a close game, but nobody could have expected what came next…Raheem Mostert decided to transform back into his 2020 NFC Championship form and ran through the Broncos defense over and over again. With every broken tackle, with every completed pass, the hearts of Broncos fans slowly became more and more decrepit and soulless inside as the Dolphins put up 56 points…in three quarters.
At this point, the game was already decided and as a result the Dolphins lost all of their starters on offense and defense. Many Dolphins fans were disappointed, hoping that the Dolphins would have been able to score 60. Luckily for them, a 68 yard touchdown pass to Robbie Chosen reinvigorated their fire!
The Broncos then proceeded to take the kick-off back for a touchdown, but it did not take long for the Dolphins to respond. On a routine pitch-out, Devon Achane turned on the jets running at a top speed of 24 MPH to blow by the defense and score a historic 10th touchdown. With Jason Sanders extra point, the Dolphins had put up a record setting 70 points…with still 8 minutes left in the game.
The fans were getting their money’s worth and far more, but a game like this would only be complete if the Dolphins could make true history–breaking the NFL record of 72 points in a single game. Luckily for the fans, a 56 yard run from Chris Brooks got the Dolphins to the 30 yard line, well in the range of Jason Sanders to kick a field goal and set the record for the most points ever.
With 70 points on the board and 2 minutes left on the clock, the whole sports world looked on in awe wondering if they were about to witness history. However, in a surprising turn of events, the Dolphins took pity on the Broncos. Instead of kicking the field goal for the record, they took a knee and ran out the clock leaving the score 70-20.
In situations like these, an insecure man uses his power to further humiliate their opponent. However, in showing mercy to the Broncos, McDaniel pulled a class act move and proved why he is such an amazing coach. Almost every coach in the NFL would have kicked that field goal for the win, but in the locker room after the game McDaniel made sure to emphasize to his players one thing: It is only a third win.
No matter how many points you score, it only counts as 1 W. Whether you win 13-3 or 70-20, they both count only for 1 victory in the win column. McDaniel has truly hit his stride as a coach and as a mentor to his players and his positive energy has spread around the team.
Tua has become more vocal than ever as the quarterback of the time. Bradley Chubb and Christian Wilkins have taken on large roles as leaders in commanding the defense. And most importantly, every single player on the team is only concerned with his team’s success. Every player is acting in good faith for their teammates and have put aside their own values and ambitions to work as one collective group. This is what sports is truly about, working with others to achieve a singular common goal: bring a Championship back to Miami. If the Dolphins continue to play like they did this game, they will be having a very, very good January. Until then, the Broncos fans and players will forever be traumatized and haunted by the voices in their heads still screaming: ANOTHER MIAMI TOUCHDOWN!!!
Oh by the way, did I forget to mention that they did not even have Jaylen Waddle?