The Miami Dolphins had already had a tough start to the 2025 NFL season. Unfortunately, things didn’t improve in Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns. Desperately needing to get back on the right track, the Browns blew out the Dolphins, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa having one of the worst outings of his career.
With seemingly no chance at winning the Week 7 matchup, the Dolphins made a change with more than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, sending rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers in for his NFL debut.
Why Is Quinn Ewers in for Tua Tagovailoa?
While the first half hadn’t gone Miami’s way, there was hope after scoring a field goal heading into halftime to make the game 17-6. After deferring the opening kickoff, a quick score to start the second half would’ve had the Dolphins right back in the game. Still, Tagovailoa threw his first of three back-breaking interceptions, this one resulting in a touchdown, on the first offensive play of the third quarter.
After throwing two more interceptions in the fourth quarter, head coach Mike McDaniel finally pulled the plug on Tagovailoa’s time in Week 7, turning to 2025 seventh-round rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers. It seemed like Ewers would be getting some snaps sooner rather than later after the Dolphins elevated him to Tagovailoa’s backup before the Week 7 matchup.
IT’S QUINN EWERS TIME pic.twitter.com/OT5o6XluJI
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 19, 2025
Ewers did not fare much better, almost getting picked off on his first pass attempt and recovering a few of his own fumbles, but he got his first snaps in a 31-6 blowout against a dominant Browns defensive front. He completed five of eight passes for 53 yards and still had a higher yards per pass attempt than Tagovailoa at 6.6 compared to 4.3.
The Dolphins’ starting quarterback had a putrid outing, completing 12 of 23 passes for 100 yards and three interceptions. The turnovers almost evened Tagovailoa’s touchdown-to-interception ratio for the season at 11 to 10. According to the PFSN NFL Offense Impact metrics, the Miami offense had a 77.1 Offense Impact Score and graded out at a C+ entering Sunday’s game against the Browns.
In looking at his third- and fourth-down splits this season, Tugavailoa has a 57.4 passer rating when throwing past the sticks. When throwing short of the sticks, he has a 91.2 passer rating. The Dolphins do not have a bye week until Week 12 of the season. After another awful outing, it will be interesting to see how the franchise moves forward and how long Tagovailoa and McDaniel remain the face of the Dolphins.
