On Sunday, the NFL will hold its first-ever game in Spain, with the Washington Commanders facing the Miami Dolphins. In September, the NFL held its first-ever game in Ireland, when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings.
The Commanders and Dolphins looked like a premier game when the NFL scheduled it in May. Washington was coming off a 12-5 season with sensational rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Meanwhile, the Dolphins featured a high-powered offense, led by Tua Tagovailoa, De’Von Achane, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
The NFL marketed this game around Daniels. He will not play on Sunday. Neither will Hill. Both teams are 3-7, with Washington losers of five straight games. Daniels suffered a fractured elbow two weeks ago and will miss his fifth game this season.
Regardless of who is on the field when the game kicks off, it’s a monumental opportunity for the NFL and both teams. That is not lost on Commanders head coach Dan Quinn.
“You know what you do, on the bus rides over to here, to the practice facility here, and you go right past the stadium, man,” Quinn said on Friday. “It’s the coolest on the way here, maybe it’s a 15- or 20-minute ride, but that’s when it hits you to say, okay, because you’re in the hotel, you’re just kind of going, you’re in the meetings. You could put that meeting space anywhere. It’s going to be the same of the things that you do, but being out and knowing that, hey, we get opp to do something that’s the first time here, that’s not lost, and we discussed that in the meeting today. And that’s a great opp, man, you really gotta go for it. But yeah, we’re pumped to be a part of it.”
It’s also a nice break for players after practice. Washington guard Sam Cosmi was sampling the different foods in Spain this week.
Sam Cosmi, in Madrid: “I’m still getting used to the time change. I woke up at 5 this morning. And I was really hungry. So I went on TikTok to look up a bunch of food places.”
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) November 12, 2025
This week’s game also gives friends on the other team an opportunity to catch up. This game has something more unique. Brothers face off on Sunday, as Commanders guard Chris Paul takes on Dolphins tackle Patrick Paul. While the brothers won’t actually be on the field at the same time, they’ve taken advantage of being in the same city all week. The brothers hadn’t seen one another all year and caught up after practice one day this week.
The good news for the Commanders is that they’ll have a much-needed bye week when they return to the United States. The hope is they can get some of their injured players, such as Daniels and Terry McLaurin, back.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Playing in NFL’s first Spain game is special.
