Where to watch Dolphins vs. Seahawks: TV channel, kickoff time, NFL live stream, spread, odds, prediction

The Miami Dolphins are on the road for the first time this season and will travel across the country to face the Seattle Seahawks (2-0). The Dolphins suffered a 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football, while the Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 23-20 in overtime.

The headline of this matchup, of course, has to do with the Dolphins’ quarterback situation, as Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion last week and will miss at least the next four games. Enter Skylar Thompson, who will be the starter and will face the second-best pass defense in the NFL.

Can Thompson find a way to fuel this playmaker-laden offense? Can new head coach Mike Macdonald help the Seahawks get off to a 3-0 start? Let’s analyze this Week 3 interconference matchup. First, here’s how to watch the game:

How to watch

Date: Sunday, September 22nd | Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Location: Lumen Field (Seattle)
Channel: CBS | Electricity: Outstanding+
Consequences: CBS Sports App
Opportunities: Seahawks -4.5 Over/Under 41.5

All NFL odds are from SportsLine Consensus.

Trends

• Dolphins lead the overall standings with 10-6 (including postseason)
• 25 years ago, these teams met in the 1999 Wild Card. It was the last win of Dan Marino’s career and the Seahawks’ last game in the Kingdome.
• The Seahawks have failed to stay ahead as favorites for seven games in a row (0-3-4 ATS)
• The Dolphins are 8-0 since 2022 with the team of Kevin Harlan, Trent Green and Melanie Collins. They average 35.8 points per game, 455.8 total yards per game and have a point differential of +92 during that time

When the Dolphins have the ball

All eyes will be on new quarterback Skylar Thompson, the 27-year-old former seventh-round pick from Kansas State. He became a preseason favorite in his first year and made the final 53-man roster. Thompson beat out Mike White for the No. 2 pick in the 2024 preseason. In eight career games, Thompson has thrown for 614 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions while going 1-1 as a starter.

We know this Mike McDaniel offense is built for Tagovailoa, and it doesn’t look that way when he’s inactive. Including the playoffs, the Dolphins have played five games without Tua. They are 1-4, have averaged fewer than 20 points per game, and have thrown more interceptions (7) than touchdowns (5). Their only win was an 11-6 victory over the lowly New York Jets in Week 18 of the 2022 season that clinched a playoff spot. Miami didn’t even score a touchdown in that game.

It’s true that the Dolphins have some great players like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but in the five games Tagovailoa has missed, Hill has yet to score a touchdown and has only reached 100 yards receiving once. As one of the best players in the entire NFL, Hill should be part of the game plan. But De’Von Achane could be the weapon that makes Thompson’s life easier.

The speedy sophomore ranks fifth in the NFL with 46 touches and third with 265 scrimmage yards. Despite being listed as questionable due to an ankle injury in Week 2, Achane set a career-high with 29 touches and is the first Dolphin since Ricky Williams to record 100 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in each of the first two games of a season.

With the Dolphins having a new quarterback, could Achane get 20 touches again? In the three times he has had 20 touches, he has averaged 167 yards from scrimmage, scored seven total touchdowns and averaged 7.1 yards per touch. In his 13 career games, Achane has averaged over five yards per touch in 10 of them. He has also reached 100 scrimmage yards in seven of those 13 career games.

When the Seahawks have the ball

The Seahawks struggled to get the running game going in New England without Kenneth Walker III in the lineup, so Geno Smith threw the ball 44 times. This actually resulted in a historic performance, as DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba became the first duo in franchise history to record both 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards in a game.

The JSN truthers were vindicated, as he was targeted a whopping 16 times last Sunday, the fourth-most of any player in a game this season. He was only targeted twice in Week 1! It was Smith-Njigba’s first 100-yard pass receiving game since he caught 15 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns in the 2022 Rose Bowl against Utah.

I expect Ryan Grubb’s offense to rely on passing on Sunday – especially if Walker misses another game. Smith’s 33 completed passes last week set a career high, and he is the only quarterback in Seahawks franchise history to have multiple games in which he threw at least 30 passes with a 75% completion rate and 300 total yards.

The Dolphins have some names in their secondary, like Jalen Ramsey, Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer. But considering Metcalf, JSN and Tyler Lockett is quite a task.

forecast

Did you know that the Dolphins have never been below .500 with McDaniel as head coach? Miami is 5-0 under McDaniel when it enters a game with a .500 record, but that trend ends this weekend. The Dolphins are 3-9 with McDaniel when they face teams with a winning record, and taking a backup quarterback into the first road game of the season against a defense that’s off to a great start is… less than ideal.

Expected result: : Seahawks 23-17