Dolphins-Colts Week 1: The Five Biggest Plays

Breaking down the five plays that most decided the outcome in the Miami Dolphins' 33-8 loss against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II (23) causes a fumble by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) during the first half at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins lost their season opener for the first time since 2020 when they dropped a 33-8 decision to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday.

We rank the five biggest, most important plays of the game.

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1) THE TUA FUMBLE

The Dolphins still were in the game despite a slow start when they got the ball down 10-0 and moved to their 44. But the Tua Tagovailoa when he was hit from the side by nickel corner Kenny Moore kind of spelled the end. The Colts recovered the ball at the Miami 42 and needed only five plays to increase their lead to 17-0. On the play itself, Moore got a free run at Tagovailoa after De'Von Achane moved too far ahead and making matters more painful, it was former Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard who recovered the fumble.

2) THE PITTMAN TOUCHDOWN

The Dolphins' positive defensive plays were few and far between, but one of them was Bradley Chubb's sack on the final play of the first quarter. It created a second-and-20 situation from the Dolphins 27, but then came the easy pitch-and-catch from Daniel Jones to Michael Pittman off a miscommunication in the Dolphins secondary where Storm Duck let Pittman go behind him expecting help but Ifeatu Melifonwu too late coming over. The touchdown put the Dolphins behind 10-0.

3) THE ROUGHING-THE-PUNTER PENALTY

The Colts ended up scoring on all seven of their possession, doing something that hadn't been done since 1977, according to ESPN Research. But the Dolphins defense did have a stop late in the second quarter, one that seemingly was going to give them a chance to score before the half to cut into their 17-0 deficit. Instead, Matthew Judon was flagged for running into punter Rigoberto Sanchez and the 5-yard penalty on fourth-and-2 kept the drive alive. Highlighted by a fourth-and-2 conversion, the Colts then drove to a field goal but more importantly killed off the final 4:04 of the half.

4) THE SECOND INTERCEPTION

Trailing 20-0 coming out of the half, the Dolphins needed something positive to happen when they got the ball to start the second half. Instead, they got Tagovailoa's second interception when he attempted to hit Malik Washington across the field but failed to see Laiatu Latu having dropped in coverage. The turnover set up a Colts field goal that made it 23-0.

5) THE FIRST INTERCEPTION

The Dolphins offense got into Colts territory on its first possession, but then came the first big mistake when on third-and-8 from the 40 Tagovailoa overshot Tyreek Hill in the middle of the field, the ball going directly to safety Cam Bynum. That kind of set the tone for the kind of day it would be on offense.