Thanks to great moves, the Seattle Seahawks are leading 17-3 at halftime against the Miami Dolphins

Unfortunately, on its next drive, Seattle gifted Miami incredible field position with a puzzling play in the shadow of its own goal post. Facing third-and-15 from its own six-yard line, Charbonnet pointed out of the backfield into an empty set and the Dolphins quickly rushed the pocket to Smith, who attempted to avoid a sack by throwing the ball onto his back, only for it to bounce off the receiver's hands and be intercepted by cornerback Kader Kohou inside the Seahawks' 10-yard line.

Fortunately, the Seahawks defense held firm and forced the Dolphins to settle for a short field goal by Jason Sanders that kept the lead at 10-3. Smith responded to his only mistake of the half in the best possible way by using his first read on the first play of the following drive and throwing a deep ball downfield to Metcalf, who had managed to sprint past cornerback Jalen Ramsey and the two Dolphins safeties and, despite the throw being a little too short, got it in for the long touchdown.

Seattle had a chance to extend its lead on the next possession, advancing to the Miami 36-yard line on two first-down passes to Noah Fant and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But a holding penalty on Anthony Bradford set the team back and Jason Myers failed to make a 53-yard field goal, leaving the lead at 14 points with nine minutes left in the half.

On defense, the Seahawks took advantage of the absence of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, pounding backup Skylar Thompson with three sacks and six quarterback hits. Dre'Mont Jones did damage on the forward defense, forcing a fumble on a strip sack, while Derick Hall reached the backup signal-caller twice for sacks and Boye Mafe added one of his own.

Under constant pressure, Thompson finished the half with just 79 passing yards on 16 pass attempts as the Dolphins were unable to convert a single third down. Running back De'Von Achane also couldn't find his rhythm and only ran five times for 21 yards due to the lack of plays.