The Dolphins had no trouble scoring the ball on Sunday. In fact, they found it harder not to light up the scoreboard.
Miami put the hurting on the Broncos, cruising to a 50-point win after Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Devon Ashane and Raheem Mostert decided to leave Denver’s defenders adrift in a sea of misery.
But with time running out, a 70-spot on the board and sights of tying the NFL record for most points in a single game — set by the Bears in their NFL championship game beatdown of Washington back in 1940 — the Fins opted to take their foot off the gas.
With the clock winding down and Mike White under center, Miami made its way down the parting sea that was the Broncos’ defense once more. Mike McDaniel’s squad brought the ball to the cusp of the red zone before being stuffed on third and long.
With the ball placed on Denver’s 27-yard line, the Dolphins were well within their rights to kick a field goal — one that would etch their name alongside George Halas’ Monsters of the Midway in NFL record books.
They opted against it, however. Instead, Miami kneeled on fourth down, sealing the win — and a slightly less glitzy spot in NFL immortality.
When queried on the decision to spurn the opportunity to make NFL history, McDaniel was adamant he made the right call.
“It felt like chasing points and chasing a record, that’s not what we came to the game to do, that doesn’t have a bearing not the overall season outcome,” McDaniel said. “10 times out of 10 you concede and kneel down in those situations.”
“The message I thought it would send wasn’t in line with how I view things.”
Tagovailoa had long departed the field by the time the decision was made. But he shared a similar assessment to his coach.
“We’re not going out there to humiliate teams,” Tagovailoa said. “That’s just what it happened to look like.”
No team in football is hotter than Miami at the moment. And record or not, nobody can take that away from them. With Tagovailoa, Hill and a prolific running attack in stow, the sky is the limit for the Fins. And if that means a chance at the Lombardi Trophy, you can’t imagine that they will lose too much sleep over what could have been had they sent their special teams on the field.
Most points scored by an NFL team
The Dolphins fell just three points short of the Bears’ NFL record from 1940. Since the Super Bowl era, just one team has bested Miami in points scored in a single matchup: Washington thrashed the Giants 72-41 back in 1966.
The Dolphins’ scoring outburst made them just the fourth team in NFL history to log 70 or more points in a single game. Six sides have hit the 65-point mark.
| Rank | Total points | Team | Date |
| 1 | 73 | Chicago Bears | Dec. 8, 1940 |
| 3 | 72 | Washington Redskins | Nov. 27, 1966 |
| 3 | 70 | Miami Dolphins | Sept. 24, 2023 |
| 70 | Los Angeles Rams | Oct. 22, 1950 | |
| 5 | 65 | Los Angeles Rams | Oct. 29, 1950 |
| 65 | Chicago Cardinals | Nov. 13, 1949 |