After just three games as a player, Mike Macdonald has already gotten the Seattle Seahawks off to a perfect start and they are already two games ahead in the division.

Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins are once again faced with questions about who will fill the quarterback position going forward.

“The only thing that matters is that we win, no matter how we do it,” Seattle QB Geno Smith said. “I’m not too specific about it, but 3-0 is a great start.”

Smith threw for 289 yards and a 71-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf, Zach Charbonnet rushed for two touchdowns and the Seahawks beat Miami 24-3 on Sunday, with attention focused on another injury to a Dolphins quarterback.

A week after Tua Tagovailoa was forced off the field for the third time in the past two years with a concussion, the Dolphins watched Skylar Thompson suffer a chest injury in the second half, leaving Tim Boyle to try to take control after trailing 17-3.

Boyle couldn’t return and the Dolphins (1-2) were again stuck in a situation of uncertainty over their QB situation.

According to Miami coach Mike McDaniel, Thompson suffered a painful rib injury.

“You have to look at everything and find a way to give your team the best chance to win,” McDaniel said. “I think in 2022, that’s something that happened to us and ultimately the rest of the league doesn’t care, and it shouldn’t. So we have to find a way to get better collectively.”

Thompson was injured in the third quarter, left down after being pushed by Dre’Mont Jones on a pass to De’Von Achane. But the injury likely occurred on the previous drive when Thompson was sacked by Tyrel Dodson and was bent over in the midriff as he ran off the field.

Thompson was 13 of 19 for 107 yards before leaving. He also was sacked five times.

Seattle became the first team since the 1979 Steelers to start 3-0 and hold each of those opponents to under 150 yards passing. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for seven catches for just 66 yards.

“They’re such a dangerous team. You know the usual suspects,” Macdonald said. “When they get the ball, you’ve got to get great angles, you’ve got to have inside-out pursuit, you’ve got to set the edge. I thought our front played incredibly hard.”

Tagovailoa traveled to Seattle a little more than a week after suffering a concussion against Buffalo on Sept. 12. The Dolphins expressed confidence that Thompson would be able to step in and keep their high-powered offense moving.

But all Miami could accomplish was Jason Sanders’ 23-yard field goal in the first quarter. Miami had just 205 total yards.

“I’ve never won a game by three points, so I think collectively, starting with me, we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to figure it out quickly,” McDaniel said.

Miami had a chance to pull within one score early in the fourth quarter after Smith’s second interception of the game — a pass that was deflected by Calais Campbell and grabbed out of the air by Zach Sieler. Miami reached the Seattle 3 but failed on four attempts and gave the ball away on downs.

Seattle answered that defensive stand with a 98-yard scoring drive, capped by Charbonnet’s 10-yard TD run with 4:55 remaining. Charbonnet finished with 91 yards rushing on 18 carries, while Smith was 26 of 34 passing, including the long TD toss to Metcalf.

Seattle improved its record to 3-0 for the first time since 2020.

“We always talk about closing the game and for the offense, that was our chance to close the game … and just attack right away. I think we did a great job,” Charbonnet said.

Seattle’s offense was on a roll early in the game with Smith throwing for 133 yards in the first quarter. The big blow came on the final play of the first quarter when Metcalf used a double move to open up a shot and Smith found him for his seventh career touchdown catch of 50 or more yards.

But after that opening quarter, it was a pretty miserable afternoon for the Seahawks on that side of the ball, with drives often thwarted by penalties. The teams each had 11 accepted penalties, with several more disallowed or offsetting penalties.

“I think the only thing that held us back today was the stupid penalties we got,” Metcalf said.

Injuries

In addition to Thompson, the Dolphins also lost starting left tackle Terron Armstead (eye) and cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) to first-half injuries.

Seattle lost significant depth on the defensive line when rookie first round pick Byron Murphy II (hamstring) and Leonard Williams (ribs) were both injured in the first half. Both were ruled out at halftime.

Next

Dolphins: Host Tennessee next week on “Monday Night Football.”

Seahawks: Next week in Detroit on “Monday Night Football.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl