Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick heads for the other end of the field after intercepting a 2-point conversion pass during an NFL game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick heads for the other end of the field after intercepting a 2-point conversion pass during an NFL game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Often when the Miami Dolphins posted an NFL victory over the past five seasons, Alabama alumni Tua Tagovailoa or Jaylen Waddle played a prominent role.
Against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Tagovailoa had one of the lowest passing-efficiency ratings of his career at 55.9 and Waddle was limited to three receptions for 40 yards.
But the Dolphins still beat the Saints 21-17 with a former Crimson Tide star making the difference – just this time, it was safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“Does it surprise me?” Tagovailoa said. “No, I’ve seen him do that at Alabama. And then I’ve seen him do it against us in practice throughout training camp. So to be able to see his hard work show in tough and critical situations in the ballgame, I mean, that’s who Mink is.”
After trailing 16-0 at halftime, the Saints had an opportunity to tie the score at 19-19 with 1:17 to play.
After throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devaughn Vele to pull New Orleans within two, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough tried to go back to Vele on the conversion pass. But Fitzpatrick undercut the route and returned his interception for a 2-point defensive conversion that gave Miami a four-point margin.
“It was gigantic,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of the three-time first-team All-Pro defensive back, “especially after he took an unbelievable undercut angle. He was doing it from the slot position where nickels usually play, so I think it kind of speaks to who he is – competitive greatness. Being your best when your best is required.
“He takes an undercut angle, utilizes his great ball skills and he didn’t hesitate for one second, which really helped after the onside because they had to get in the end zone. That changes everything. Big-time players make big-time plays for your team, and he came through for us.”
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After the 2-point conversion blew up in New Orleans’ face, the Saints rebounded with Vele recovering an onside kick. After New Orleans’ comeback continued with a 10-yard pass and a 9-yard run, the Miami defense stopped the Saints on downs at the Dolphins 36-yard line with 29 seconds to play.
“That’s just the name of the game,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s the name of playing defense. No matter how many times that we’re called upon, we’ve got to go out there and make stops. And I think really good defenses, whenever there’s a change in possession or a turnover, they play really good defense during those next plays. And I think we’ve been doing that the last few weeks and getting the ball back to our offense.”
For the third game in a row, Miami finished with more rushing yards than passing yards as De’Von Achane accounted for 134 of the Dolphins’ 164 rushing yards as he surpassed 1,000 for the season.
Tagovailoa completed 12-of-23 passes for 157 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against the Saints. On third-down throws, Tagovailoa was 4-of-8 for 50 yards. He also got sacked three times on third down.
“Ultimately in the pass game, there were some plays that weren’t made,” McDaniel said. “I wouldn’t say Tua played his best game. There was some stuff that was him, like the pick. He could have thrown it to (tight end) Darren Waller. But he also had what De’Von would call a very catchable touchdown pass that he dropped. And we had another drop. I think (tight end) Julian (Hill) had one. These are big-time plays that you got to come up with. …
“Before I see the tape, I just know that it was a little herky-jerky in the pass game. There were some plays made in the second half by Tua, but there were some plays that we’d like to have back, and that’s a collective, for sure.”
In commenting on his play, Tagovailoa said: “I want to give our defense, I mean, a lot of praise.”
“We don’t even see it as bailing him out,” Fitzpatrick said of his performance, which included seven tackles. “It’s just doing our job. Kind of like what I said earlier, no matter how many times that we get called out there, we had to go out there and do our job and get the ball back to them because there’s games where he, quote unquote, bailed us out. You know what I’m saying? Where we were having down games, and they put up 30 points or 35 points.
“So it’s just we got to continue to have each other’s backs. And the ultimate goal is to be playing complementary football, but if that doesn’t happen, we still got to go out there and execute at a high level.”
Tagovailoa had back-to-back completions for 13 and 19 yards, the latter after fumbling the snap, before Achane ended Miami’s opening possession with a 29-yard touchdown run.
The Dolphins added three field goals to their lead in the second quarter, when Miami started possessions at the New Orleans 37 and 42 and the Dolphins 49.
Former Alabama standout Kool-Aid McKinstry intercepted Tagovailoa’s long throw to Waddle at the goal line with 12:31 left in the first half.
That turnover came on the snap after Fitzpatrick had caused Shough to fumble on a blitz, and Miami recovered the loose football at the Saints 37-yard line.
“That was actually my first NFL sack,” Fitzpatrick said. “So that was a big moment. I was pretty excited about that. … I had one, and I got called for unnecessary roughness.”
In their next game, the Dolphins play the New York Jets at noon CST Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Miami’s third consecutive victory kept a heartbeat going for the Dolphins’ playoff chances after the team won only two of its first nine games.
“For our team, we don’t have any room for us to be enjoying too much,” Tagovailoa said. “We got to dig ourselves out of this hole. But it feels good when you get to come off a bye week, little rust here and there, but at the end of the day, you get a win.”
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