What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins’ game against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3:

We start with the list of inactive players, which was again highlighted by running back Raheem Mostert. who is out with a chest injury. Also missing the game due to injury was rookie wide receiver Malik Washington, who is out with a quadriceps injury.

Also inactive were CB Ethan Bonner, LB Channing Tindall, LB Mohamed Kamara and OL Andrew Meyer.

Tyler Huntley was named the third emergency quarterback, meaning that Tim Boyle – promoted from the training squad to the 53-man squad on Saturday – was the replacement for Skylar Thompson, as Tua Tagovailoa was on the injured list.

The Dolphins started on defense after winning the coin toss and deferred, and Seattle got the ball at its 35-yard line to begin with after Dee Williams elected to return the kick after batting it 4 yards into the end zone.

The Seahawks quickly penetrated Dolphins territory when Geno Smith completed an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Tyler Lockett in zone coverage, giving Smith all day to throw.

Defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand then made two nice plays to stop the attack. First, he fended off a block from former Dolphins center Connor Williams and then guard to stop Zach Charbonnet for no yards. Then he easily beat guard Anthony Bradford and dropped Smith, leading to a sack.

The Dolphins began their first drive trailing 3-0, and it started off well: Thompson hit De’Von Achane at the seam for a 22-yard gain after Achane lined up as a slot receiver.

On the next play, Jaylen Wright gained 9 yards after taking a pitch even though the referees missed an obvious horsecollar tackle violation. It may not have seemed like a big deal at the time, but it became a very big deal.

The Dolphins decided to throw on second-and-1, which wasn’t a bad move since it was almost a free down, but Julian Hill’s missed block put Thompson under pressure and his pass was deflected. After Jeff Wilson Jr. was stopped on third-and-1 and no gain in yardage was possible, Mike McDaniel made the unusual decision to attempt a 57-yard field goal attempt instead of going for the first down, and the move backfired when Sanders missed wide left.

From that perspective, it was simply a bad decision by McDaniel, as Sanders really struggled from distance, McDaniel was always aggressive, and a missed throw gave the Seahawks the ball at their 47-yard line.

It didn’t take long for the Seahawks to get into the shadow of the Dolphins’ end zone, thanks in large part to a 22-yard pass to DK Metcalf after Smith stumbled. Kendall Fuller had excellent coverage on the play but never turned around.

The Dolphins got into Seattle territory on their second drive, but more miscues followed. Achane lost 4 yards on a second-and-1 run from the 43-yard line to Seattle’s 4-yard line, and then Thompson dropped the snap on a third-and-5 and Dramont Jones got past Terron Armstead and sacked him.

The Dolphins made a big breakthrough with Kader Kohou’s interception, which could provide new momentum after Emmanuel Ogbah pressured Smith in the end zone and the Dolphins scored a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line.

This turned out to be a disappointment, however, as the attack fizzled out after starting with an illegal motion penalty on Julian Hill, who had a very, very rough first half.

After the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal to cut their deficit to 10-3, Seattle struck quickly on the next drive when safety Jevon Holland struck hard as Metcalf made a quick move up the middle and then curved forward, leading to an easy 71-yard touchdown for the Seahawks.

Miami’s next drive began after a 31-yard kickoff return by Braxton Berrios and started with an 11-yard pass over the middle to Jaylen Waddle.

But things went downhill from there. It started with a 1-yard loss on a run when fullback Alec Ingold never started the play because he thought the refs would call it off. That was followed by two plays where Thompson was quickly pressured and the pass was not completed.

Seattle capitalized on completions of 16 and 15 yards on its next drive, getting as far as the Miami 36-yard line before a holding penalty stalled the drive before Jason Myers missed wide left on a 53-yard field goal attempt, giving the Dolphins good field position (their 43) on their next drive.

The drive started well enough with 8-yard runs by Jaylen Wright and 13-yard runs by De’Von Achane, but the Dolphins switched to passing and things went downhill.

On first-and-10 from Seattle’s 36-yard line, Durham Smythe was beaten at the line by LB Derick Hall and Robert Jones couldn’t get to him fast enough to prevent an 8-yard sack. After a short pass to Waddle, Tyreek Hill dropped the pass on a wide receiver screen that likely wouldn’t have yielded a third-and-13 attempt.

On fourth-and-13 from the 39-yard line, McDaniel punted this time and Jake Bailey carried the ball into the end zone for a net punt of just 19 yards.

After a 17-yard completion, the defense stopped Seattle’s advance thanks to a sack by Zach Sieler, who sacked left tackle Charles Cross, and a blitz on third down.

The Dolphins regained good field position for their next drive after Braxton Berrios returned a 61-yard punt 44 yards.

It made no difference, however, as the offense fizzled after a third-and-6 attempt turned into a fourth-and-39 after a series of penalties, including a third for Julian Hill and a third and fourth for special teams.

Seattle’s final drive of the first half featured a spectacular tackle by Jalen Ramsey after a swing pass to Lockett – while he was blocked.

– This drive also resulted in two penalties (holding, false start) against former Dolphins center Connor Williams.

– The Dolphins got the ball back at their 23-yard line for one final drive of the first half, but had to use up all of their timeouts first.

— After a 17-yard pass to Tyreek Hill, his first catch of the half, the drive stalled until an illegal contact gave Miami one final untimed play from the Seattle 49. The half ended — perhaps fittingly — with Thompson caught from behind and taking forever to throw the ball when there was no time left.

– It was a fitting and ugly end to an ugly first half.