MIAMI _ Whew.
Exhale, tankers.
You did it.
One fewer winless team to worry about.
One step closer to the No. 1 pick.
If you could ever be OK with a loss, Sunday was it. And it little to do with how Miami played in its 17-16 defeat at the hands of the Redskins.
The path to Tua still goes through Miami.
But oh, did the Dolphins make it interesting.
As in, scored a touchdown (Ryan Fitzpatrik to DeVante Parker) with six seconds left and tried to win it with a two-point conversion close.
But a bad play and even worse execution doomed Miami. Kenyan Drake dropped a screen pass, but had no chance of scoring anyway.
The game never should have been that close.
The Redskins had the game firmly in control. And then Bill Callahan lost his mind.
Up 14 with the Dolphins' offense in hibernation, he decided to kick a 55-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter. A punt would have pinned Miami deep. Instead, when Dustin Hopkins predictably missed, it lit a spark.
A quarterback change did too. Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced an ineffective Josh Rosen, and directed a nine-play, 55-yard touchdown drive. When Kalen Ballage rumbled in from a yard out, it gave the Dolphins their first second-half points of the season.
And after a quick defensive stop, they had the ball back at Washington's 41.
Their next three plays?
Fitzpatrick one-yard pass to Albert Wilson.
Incompletion pass deep to DeVante Parker.
And botched shotgun snap by Daniel Kilgore, resulting in an eight-yard loss.
Drive over.
Chance seemed over. Until FitzMagic showed up, and nearly pulled it out.
As a result, the Dolphins fell to 0-5 on the season. The Redskins won for the first time in six games.
Before Rosen was pulled, he had completed 15 of 25 passes for just 85 yards, two touchdowns and took five sacks. Miami managed just three points in his eight drives.
The first half lived down to expectations.
The Redskins' lone touchdown came on 25-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Terry McLaurin. Ken Webster, who was only on the field because Xavien Howard sat out the game with knee pain, was in coverage but fell down late in the route.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, managed just a field goal and 104 yards of offense. They were 1 of 7 on third down and Josh Rosen was sacked four times.
