The Miami Dolphins will continue a manageable stretch of their season with a Week 5 matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Miami will look to pick up its second win in a row after it earned its first victory of the season against the New York Jets in Week 4.
Ahead of the contest between the pair of 1-3 teams, let’s make five bold predictions for how the Dolphins will fare, including a game pick on whether Miami will end up in the win column again.
1. Jaylen Waddle steps up in Tyreek Hill’s absence
The Dolphins will be without Hill on the field for the first time this season on Sunday. He suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Jets, so Miami’s win came at a cost.
However, Hill’s absence opens up a golden opportunity for Waddle to have a breakout game, and the prediction here is that this Sunday, he will put together easily his top performance of the 2025 campaign so far.
The former first-round pick hasn’t racked up more than 68 receiving yards in any of Miami’s opening four games, but he will total a game-high 120 yards on eight receptions to go along with two receiving touchdowns against Carolina.
Waddle is Miami’s definitive best receiver now that Hill is on the shelf, and he will prove to Dolphins fans that he remains an elite talent on Sunday.
2. Darren Waller cools off after a great debut
Waller came out of retirement to join the Dolphins, and although it took a while for him to be available this season, he was terrific in his team debut versus the Jets. He totaled two receiving touchdowns and 27 receiving yards and didn’t show the level of rust that would be expected from someone who took a hiatus from the league.
But Waddle will steal the show from a receiving standpoint on Sunday, and as a result, Waller will have a quiet showing. He will finish the game with just one reception and won’t find the end zone this time around.
At 33, Waller shouldn’t be expected to play at a high level game in and game out. He will have his great games here and there across the long season, but he won’t enjoy such a productive showing on Sunday.
3. Tua Tagovailoa has another zero-interception game
Tagovailoa didn’t do a good job taking care of the football to begin the season, as he threw four interceptions in Miami’s first three games alone. However, his passing performance against the Jets suggests that he’s maybe turned a corner in his prioritization of possessions.
Not only did Tagovailoa avoid throwing any picks against New York, but he was very accurate with his passes. Of his 25 passing attempts, he completed 17 of them, and he will parlay his precise passing into Sunday’s contest.
Tagovailoa will extend his streak of games without an interception to two, and he will rack up a number of passing yards that will have fans reminiscing on when he led the league in that stat. The former University of Alabama star will have 285 passing yards under his belt by the contest’s end.
4. Miami’s defense concerns fans again
For the first time since the beginning of the 2025 season, the Dolphins’ defensive unit did enough to earn a win in Week 4. After Miami allowed every one of its opening three opponents to score 30-plus points, New York was held to just 21 in the game. It still wasn’t pretty on defense for the Dolphins, as they allowed 404 total yards, but they generated three turnovers to help the cause.
Without the same turnover luck against Carolina, the prediction is that the Dolphins’ defense will struggle for much of the game and frustrate fans. Folks will be reminded that Miami’s secondary has a whole lot of room for improvement, as Carolina will have great success throwing the ball.
Signal-caller Bryce Young has had an up-and-down campaign with the Panthers, but he will be at the top of his game against Miami’s woeful secondary. Rookie Tetairoa McMillan, who headlines the Panthers’ receiver corps, will also total triple digits in receiving yards.
5. The Dolphins win a close, late battle
Even with a big offensive showing by the Dolphins, Sunday’s bout will be close thanks in large part to a woeful performance from Miami’s defense. At the end of three quarters, the game will be knotted up at 21 points apiece.
But the Dolphins will pull away in the fourth quarter thanks to some big plays from Tagovailoa and Waddle. Tagovailoa will connect with Waddle on a touchdown to give the Dolphins a seven-point lead in the middle of the period, and they’ll keep the lead the rest of the way.
Miami will win by a final score of 31-24 and ride a two-game winning streak into its Oct. 12 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers.
