When the Dolphins have the ball

With starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (concussion) on injured reserve, the Dolphins will have backup Tyler Huntley for the third time this year. Miami signed Huntley from the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad on September 16, and he made his season debut two weeks later in an ugly Monday night loss to the Tennessee Titans. He wasn't much better a week later, although the Dolphins beat the New England Patriots in a 15-10 contest.

In his two starts, Huntley is 32/53 (60.4 percent) for 209 yards (5.5 yards/attempt) with no touchdowns, one interception, a 67.3 passer rating and 11 carries for 47 yards with one rushing -Score. Star wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for 18 catches and 164 yards with Huntley throwing the ball to them.

However, the Colts don't interpret these numbers. First off, they're catching Miami after the bye week, which could be a prime opportunity for head coach Mike McDaniel to find solutions for Huntley and his fast-paced, explosive offense.

“I think that helps, right? “Obviously without having your starter there — a guy who’s played a few games and is just dealing with the details of this offense,” Steichen said. “(Huntley) is a guy who can make plays. He runs around, he can make plays with his feet, he can also make plays climbing. I think it will be beneficial for him to have this bye week behind him.”

Additionally, the Colts have a certain safety prospect to lean on: Julian Blackmon, a college teammate of Huntley's at Utah, who warns that the Dolphins' quarterback is much better than his numbers suggest.

“He’s a good quarterback,” Blackmon said. “He’s more of an extender – he can extend plays. He's really good when he can get the ball out of his hands quickly, but he can also extend plays. He's one of those guys where you just have to be there no matter what. “Whether it's rush lanes or pass coverage, we all have to be healthy.

“…You can't read into it – to realize that what they did is not what they could do against us. They're coming off a bye, and as a quarterback, no matter if they had 10 percent of their offense in or out. Not, going into this week, we can assume that he was able to understand some of the things that Tua did. We just have to expect that they can bring out things that we saw before before Tua got hurt.

The Dolphins are also on track to have a full roster of lightning-quick running backs for the first time since Week 1, with De'Von Achane (7.8 yards/attempt, eight touchdowns in 2023) likely returning from a concussion and Raheem Mostert (1,012 yards, 18 touchdowns in 2023) in his third game this season. Miami also added rookie Jaylen Wright in this year's NFL Draft, who ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

There is speed everywhere on this Dolphins team, and no matter what things have looked like in the first few weeks of the season, the Colts defense knows that Miami's offense can turn a three-yard gain from anywhere into a touchdown if they don't is disciplined on the field.

“I think Mike (McDaniel) does a fair amount of work in planning these things,” Steichen said. “So we have to play the way we talked about last week – it's about the basics, it's about details. We have to be physically fit and tackle things safely.”