Get ready Dolphins fans! Week 1 of NFL Football is here and we will finally get to see the team so many experts are predicting to have a miserable season. Those same experts most likely also had the Los Angeles Rams going undefeated, but we all know how that turned out. Whatever the win total is for our Miami Dolphins, I want to see a competitive team, a tough team that can play in any conditions, hot or cold, and a team that no team will want to play. Those things can happen and we can still have a losing season. The average age of players on the 2026 Miami Dolphins is 24 years old. We all know why, and how we got here. Those problems have been removed and the cap issues we had are in the process of being corrected. I’m truly excited to see what our team looks like this week against the Las Vegas Raiders. The point spread at the moment of writing is Raiders -3. That’s pretty even up, considering the Raiders are home.
There have been a lot of surprises for our gameday roster, nothing more surprising than rookie WR Chris Bell not only not being on IR/Return but also the fact that he’s in the starting lineup. Both rookie 3rd RD Picks WR Caleb Douglas and WR Chris Bell have been named as starters. You have to be excited about that, even if WR Chris Bell is at about 85% because of his previous injury. The Dolphins aren’t being reckless, they’re just putting their best players out there. Bell would not be out there if he wasn’t ready. The late cut of ILB Tyrel Dodson was the other surprise, which of course thrusts rookie ILB Jacob Rodriguez into the starting lineup as well. This is a young team, and we all know young teams make mistakes. We also know young players bring energy and excitement, and I expect that to the be the case with our Dolphins.
All of us here know very little about what we’re going to see on offense and defense simply because we haven’t yet seen anything. We haven’t seen our starting offense except for the opening drive of PS Game 1. We haven’t seen most of our starting defense either. To highlight this, DT Zeek Biggers has yet to play a snap in 2026, didn’t participate in any of the PS games. I think this can only help us in this first matchup because the Raiders really have no idea what they are facing, besides a young team. Regardless, execution is key, and despite perhaps have a leg up due to the mystery of what we’re doing, we still have execute the gameplan better than our opponent. We’ll see how that turns out on Sunday at 4:25PM.
I think overall the one unit that was letdown early and through most of the season was the O-line. Oddly enough I feel like the O-line might be our better unit. I think Patrick Paul is a solid LT, I believe rookie LG Kadyn Proctor will be a tremendous upgrade over last year’s starter Jonah Savaiinaea. OC Aaron Brewer is close to an All Pro C. At RG, 2nd year man Jonah Savaiinaea has looked more confident and more physical and considerably better than he played last season. At the moment, RT Austin Jackson is healthy, and as long as that continues, he should supply average to a little above average play there. Rookie TE Will Kacmarek is nicked up, so I don’t know how impactful he will be this week. He’s our best run blocking TE by far, but w’ll see early on how much he is used, and that will likely tell us the story of how nicked up he actually is. TE Greg Dulcich is a decent receiver, but he’s not a blocking TE, and the other 2 TE’s on the roster, rookie 5th RD pick Seydou Traore and rookie pickup TE Justin Joly is not know for his blocking skills either. I know we’re looking to be more physical, so FB DJ Herman may see action and supply us with some much needed additional blocking at the LOS.
The other huge Wild Card is our QB. QB Malik Willis is a significantly more athletic Qb than former starter Tua Tagovailoa. He can be dangerous running the football, although I’m sure we won’t be gameplanning to have QB Malik Willis running all day. He may have to be running out of necessity if the O-line is struggling, but I don’t believe he will be tasked to run as part of the offensive gameplan. I can’t wait to see him play, it will be so refreshing to have a guy back there capable of making things happen when the play breaks down. I think our defense is also much maligned because of what is perceived to be a lack of pass rushing prowess. I think that’s a fair assessment. We don’t have any proven pass rushers on our D, but 3rd year pro Chop Robinson has added some muscle, and maybe this is the year he takes off. DT Zach Sieler led the Dolphins that are still on the roster with 5.5 sacks. Chop Robinson added only 4 sacks last year. Who knows what DE/LB Josh Uche will bring to our defense. Supposedly he also bulked up some so we’ll see if pays dividends. We will have a very young DL rotation with the exception of DT Zach Sieler. We’ll see a lot of 2nd year players DT Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers, along with 2nd yearDT Keith Cooper, and veteran DE Robert Beal.
The secondary will be a young secondary, and again, a few second year players will be called upon to make an immediate impact. At CB, 4th year CB Juju Brents will line up on one side (Left) with 2nd year CB Jason Marshall on the right side. At safety, once again, it will be another member of the 2025 Draft class with SS Dante Trader starting and then 6th year vet Zayne will be starting at FS, but don’t be surprised if we see a fair amount of two rookies, S Michael Taaffe, and S/LB Kyle Louis is certain situations. What those situations are, however, we have no idea because we haven’t yet seen it happen. At LB we’re about as solid a unit as can be with LB Jordyn Brooks returning. On the inside will be rookie ILB and 2026 2nd RD pick Jacob Rodriguez. At the other outside LB will be returning vet LB Willie Gay. Jordyn Brooks will be on the weak side while Gay will be on the strong side. In nickel situations, we’ll see rookie 1st RD Pick CB Chris Johnson.
Yes, I’ve seen the hubbub about if the Dolphins can’t beat the Raiders this week, they will undoubtedly go winless for the season. I think that’s just plain silly. It’s week 1 for a young team, with a new Head Coach, with a bunch of players that really haven’t played together yet in game action. With all that taken into context, I think you have to give this team a little leeway if things don’t start swimmingly. If somehow it does start well, I’d think you’d have to give HC Jeff Hafley a whole lot of credit for that. Odds are there will be kinks to work out and a fair amount of rookie and young player mistakes. How many of those will have a legitimate impact on our success. You have to think there will be bumps, but I also recall how well we looked on the very first drive of the preseason, the only drives where we had most of our starters, and I thought we looked remarkably well. Let’s hope that’s precisely how we look on Sunday!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Johnson got caught watching Cousins and lost track of Meyer on that 1st down catch.
Chop, where are ya?
MikeE,
My choice was DE/pass rusher and OL in 2-3 rounds! I tried, but I was outvoted!
Uche, where are ya?
It’s a little disappointing as a Dolphins fan, but how about the Chargers with Justin Herbert and the great offensive mind of Mike McDaniel?
Dulcich was wide open on the wheel route but went the other way.
Batted passes – the woe’s of having a short QB
4th and 12, that’s when you should force one downfield when nothing is there. Not throw it away.
mf13ss
says:
September 13, 2026 at 7:03 pm
These are necessary growing pains, Tim.
———-
Funny. The announcers used the term “growing pains” in reference to our Phins just shortly after I typed this to you, Tim.
Flores dialing it up for MN.
Not surprised
Cardinals win
0-1. We can only go up from here.
Randy, what happened to Kyler Murray? He get hurt or benched?
Concussion fairly early in game.
Thanks!
Defense tightened up in the second half except for 1 drive. Offense blew 2 good scoring opportunities down only 13 points.
Our young team got off to a slow start but competed to the end. Good to get the 1st one out of the way. There will be plenty of learning lessons when they watch the video.
^
But it’s still going to be a long season.
Your choice to look at it that way.
I agree Tim
RB’s averaged 2.9 yards a carry on only 12 rush attempts and OL gave up 11 QB hits and 5 sacks.
Thought this was going to be a run focused offense. Pass protection is terrible. Willis was gassed.
Willis held onto the ball way too long. The PP was totally adequate most of the day. This team is learning itself. It’s a team of 32 new players and new starters including rookies at multiple positions. It really wasn’t that bad on the road across the country.
I wasn’t surprised by the outcome, just disappointed with ST’s, and the pass rush. Not shocked by the O-line troubles or the run defense
Overall, watching just the second half I saw both good and bad. ST’s mostly bad but good in the return game. I saw enough to believe they will improve the more experience they get.
One thing that was nice was not seeing 50+% of our pass play targets being behind, at or within 3 yards of the LOS.
Great point Lol
BBM – so true about the behind the LOS or 5 yards past it. That was only a product of shitty Tua
Basically their preseason game
Can kind of look at it that way since many vets did not get many snaps at all during PS. Sieler was really gassed in that 4th qtr.
Glad I decided not to waste my time watching this live.
Jaxon Dart runs alot
yeah I admire the balls to donut , but he gonna get himself killed
to do it
Javon Holland with a pick .. who knew he was still a thing 🤷🏻
He may have a big year. You look at who the Giants have to rush or blitz the passer. Chauncey Golston, Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Arvell Reese, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Tremaine Edmunds. That’s a very good Edge/LB group, big and athletic.
Giants CB room is very solid also. Heck, both their backups would be starting for the Dolphins in Paulson Adebo and rookie Colton Hood.
Giants also have another Dolphins player at backup safety in Elijah Campbell who balled out in PS.
you ain’t lying. Announcers were espousing on those guys just before the half ended , and brought up Thibodeaux almost as an afterthought thought.
Solid drive by Jackson Dart
Giants CB Newsome got his bell rung on that hit. He sat up smiling like a little kid who was just told they are taking him to Dairy Queen for a sundae. lol
That was probably Jackson Dart’s best game of his pro career so far.
Jaxson
Before doing my post week 1 mock draft, I thought since we have 100+ million in cap space next year that I might as well look at the free agents and grab a couple to fill some holes. I found a few where I said “fuggit it’s money well spent on these guys.
I found 4 young starters who may not totally break the bank and are free agents next year and their teams may not have the cap to keep them.
Rams RT Warren McClendon Jr will be age 26 at time of signing in 2027.
Eagles RG Tyler Steen will be age 27 (market value 5m per yr)
Bengals DE/Edge Myles Murphy will be age 25 (market value 10m per year)
Giants CB Deonte Banks will be age 26
Lions Safety/NB Christian Izein will be age 27
I think RT McClendon would probably be a 10-12 mil per year signing if he has another good year like last year.
Dolphins free agents I am re-signing:
QB Kyle McCord, TE Dulcich, OT Godrick, CB Juju Brents, CB Reese Taylor, LB Woodard, Center Meyer
BBM’s Post Week 1 Mock Draft with the players above added in free agency.
RD 1 #2 Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
RD 2 #34 CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame
RD 3 #66 Clev Lubin, Edge, Louisville
RD 4 #103 Jelani McDonald, Safety, Texas
RD 5 #140 Elijah Green, CB, Tulsa
RD 5 #151 Benjamin Brahmer, TE, Penn State
RD 6 #183 J’Mond Tapp, Edge, Memphis
RD 7 #232 Rolijah Hardy, LB, Indiana
RD 7 #255 Carson Hinzman, IOL, Ohio State
I think game one continued to show we need a QB #1 next draft. I have ABSOLUTELY NO CONFIDENCE after watching game 1.
How many times did I watch our “Scrambling QB” fold up in the fetal position?
Wow – Dolphins fans on X just killing the team. Did they watch the Preseason where our our starters only played 1 drive. Did they see us purge the roster of nearly all of our veteran talent? It was a necessary evil, and now we have a bunch of rookies and 2nd year players getting meaningful playing time. I think we’re going to get better, but unfortunately the teams we play are better teams than the Raiders
I wonder what Rock thought of Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel yesterday . . .
They didn’t enter my mind.
OK, so thoughts on the Dolphins?
What I saw yesterday was exactly what I expected to see. Actually Las Vegas scored one more field goal than I predicted. The outcome 27-13 and my prediction 24-13.
I saw some promising play from some of the rookies. Then I saw the 1 or 2 mistakes each rookie made, as I expected. If each guy only makes 1-2 mistakes that is still 30 or so mistakes spread over 124 snaps that’s like a quarter of the plays that someone screws up on.
Malik Willis looked exactly how I expected. (Not even close to good enough to not draft his replacement!) Ok he seldom short arms it. (he still did!) but his accuracy was just not there.
The interceptions by Taaffe and Trader made their nights look better, but they were not playing well otherwise.
Jeanty got his 100 yards at 4.4 per attempt and made the “Strength” of our team look bad.
I don’t know how many “worthless pressures” the D got, but zero sacks is about what I expected too.
THIS TEAM IS TALENT DEFICIENT. Maybe watching a few more games will convince some of the more hard core Kool-aide swillers on here of that fact. (Doubt it though)
I still think we are going to surprise someone (including themselves!) and pull off a few wins, but I think the national view is justified.
Jonah still looks like a problem.
Jackson looks like trash, like he didn’t practice all off season or something….
Game 1 looked like:
We cant stop the run.
We can’t cover Tight Ends
We can’t get sacks or pressures.
We can’t get off the field on 3rd down.
OUR PUNTER had more tackles that Chop Robinson.
We can’t run block or pass block
our QB can’t read the defense
Our leading rusher was our QB who was doing his best Tua impression curling up on the field in the fetal position.
Yeah, about what I expected.
I think we looked bad up front on both sides of the ball
everything else kind of flows from there
Probably gonna have issues up front next week too
they need to find a couple of things they are good at and work on those things
you got the sense they have no idea who they are
I looked at the Chargers drive chart
lot of negative plays – at one point they are 3rd and 30 at a pretty critical point in the game after 3 straight penalties
McDaniel builds his offense for big plays
when they don’t come together – it’s a lot of wasted drives
Achane was suposed to be ready to carry the ball 30-40 times, according to Hafley’s joking around. 15 touches. That’s it. Of course we were behind all game, but…Duh.
I really enjoyed watching Thumbstache play yesterday. He made a few mistakes but he puts his nose in there and is a missile
Caleb Douglas looked pretty good for a “reach” huh?
5 catches on 7 targets for 18.8 yards per catch. Not bad for his first NFL game.
Joe Shad of the Palm Beach Post being a tiny bit more generous than me with his grades.
Miami Dolphins rookies report card vs. Las Vegas Raiders
G Kadyn Proctor
Dolphins running back De’Von Achane struggled to get it going as Miami’s offensive line was pushed back at times and also committed multiple penalties.
Proctor had a false start early in the second half. Willis was sacked five times.
Grade: C
CB Chris Johnson
Johnson made a sure tackle of Ashton Jeanty in the first quarter.
Johnson then allowed a pass over the middle to tight end Michael Mayer. Kirk Cousins of the Raiders targeted Johnson in this game and thus Johnson ended up with more tackles than you’d like a starting cornerback to have.
Johnson was near the play and involved in coverage when Cousins hit Jack Bech for a 17-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Later in the second quarter, Johnson could not stop Jeanty from catching and scoring a touchdown pass from Cousins.
Grade: C-
LB Jacob Rodriguez
Jacob was involved in stopping a 4th-and-1 run by the Raiders in the first quarter. But the stop was overturned on replay review and Las Vegas was awarded a first down.
Rodriguez was in coverage and made a tackle after a short completion in the second quarter. Rodriguez led the Dolphins with 14 tackles, which would put him on pace for 238 in 2026.
Grade: C+
WR Caleb Douglas
Caleb had the first catch of his career on the first play of the second quarter, but came up short of the yards needed to gain on a 3rd-and-15.
Douglas was silky smooth along the right sideline as he hauled in a pass from Willis for a gain of 25 yards. Douglas had four catches for 81 yards in the first half, appearing poised and comfortable.
Douglas was the target on a third-quarter misfire and interception of Willis.
Grade: B+
WR Chris Bell
Bell failed to haul in his first NFL catch near the end of the first half. The Raiders were credited with a pass breakup. Bell had his first NFL catch in the third quarter, for 25 yards.
Grade: C+
TE Will Kacmarek
Kacmarek had a solid block on an inside gainer by Achane in the first half. Kacmarek is, without doubt, a very skilled blocker.
Grade: C+
LB Kyle Louis
Louis played a key “gunner” role on Miami’s punt team. The Raiders had a punt return in the second quarter that required a tackle to be made by the Dolphins’ punter. Louis sustained a knee injury in the second half and did not return.
Grade: C
S Michael Taaffe
Taaffe started over second-year safety Dante Trader.
Taaffe forced a fumble but Raiders tight end Michael Mayer was ruled down before he lost the ball. Miami is intent to force more fumbles this season under Jeff Hafley and Sean Duggan.
Taafe intercepted Kirk Cousins at the start of the third quarter.
Grade: B+
FB DJ Herman
Herman saw his first action as an undrafted and converted fullback.
Grade: C
I don’t know if it was due to Slowick or Willis, but the plays at the ends of the half were way to slow getting in and getting the snap off. It was excruciating to watch the clock tick away while the offense seemed to lollygag getting to the line.
I don’t like agreeing with Brian Miller. (LOL) But he seems to agree with me on the pacing when we should have been hurrying the F up.
https://phinphanatic.com/week-1-winners-and-losers-from-the-miami-dolphins-ugly-loss-to-the-raiders-01m2eaqsmcj6
Before the game I said I was excited to watch how Phillips looked against Linderbaum. It wasn’t so exciting to watch in real time. Phillips looked fat and slow and over-matched.
It’s regular season. Where is everyone? Hiding?
Well, that was fun!!! I know we all expected it to be a long season, but when we are actually at the start of it, well…
The one thing I came away with is that we still have a lot of work to do on both lines, and we better get multiple pass rushers next year.
I’ll tell you, Kenyatta Jackson looked good for OSU, setting the edge on run plays and getting a sack and pressures on Arch Manning. He even played in space, and for a guy who’s 6-6, 260, I was impressed.
Oh, special teams were a mess for the most part, except for Jalen Wright’s return.
A couple positives, Douglas looked very good in his first real game and the 2 INTs were hopefully a preview of what’s to come..
Well the “good news” is the other teams in the “race to the #1 pick” all won yesterday. Jets, Raiders, Cardinals all a game “Behind us” for the overall pick.
LOL, true. Add it to the positives, I guess.
Rich, I really expected special teams to be poor to start the season. We turned over the bottom of the roster with 9 players AFTER camp. Those are the guys who make up the core of special teams. I expect that room to get better just because they haven’t practiced enough.
It can only improve; that’s how I look at it too.
It’s only the first game; I just want to see improvements as the season goes on. That will be a major positive for me.
WOW!
Our Kicker AND punter BOTH had more tackles than Chop Robinson.
Damn, 14 tackles gets you a C+? I didn’t see the game but that’s some harsh shit right there. It’s hard to get 14 tackles.
And then you get a C+ because you had one good block? Lol
So, did we play a lot of Wide 9?
Johnson could not stop Jeanty from catching and scoring a touchdown pass from Cousins.
————
Schad may be wrong on this one (or I may be). This might have been the play where Rodriguez was supposed to pick up Jeanty when Johnson passed him off. I made it look like it was Johnson’s fault but Rodriguez padded his chest and said “my fault” because Rodriguez was supposed to pickup the RB.
We looked bad but we were supposed to look bad. We’re talent deficient and very young. We will get a top 3 pick most likely, and a smart GM will pick a QB. The Raiders have a lot of talent. They just needed the right coach and QB. Kirk Cousins was always going to beat our defense in a first game scenario. He’s experienced and they aren’t.
This was everything I expected it to be. If I was a Chargers fan, then I’d be really worried. That team looked lost. We just looked outmatched.
When I look at Dart, J Daniels, C Williams, T Lawrence, etc, I don’t see where Willis has the skill to compete with them. He has all year to prove me wrong and he didn’t look awful. He just looked average. I just don’t see how we pass up the opportunity for a franchise defining QB next year even if Willis ends up being good or even great. I want elite.
Randy, It looked like it to me (wide 9). Some downs I could see they weren’t. I did see that whenever they were it was almost easy for the Raiders to block it up and get helmets on LB’s.
Who ever was in the 1Tech got doubled by Linderbaum and the OG to that side. The other OG would be on the 3tech. I saw many times OL getting helmets on one or both of Rodriguez and Brooks.
Not sure who to blame though, the DT’s or the LB’s not staying clean. I would have to watch again.
Also, 4 of our 5 edge players were at the bottom of the stat sheet in tackles. Like Rock said, but not just Chop, our kicker and punter both had more tackles than 4/5 of our edge group.
BBM,
Thanks for the thoughts. Usually against a defense that widens you wanna use inside runs or hooks on the edge. Take advantage of those inside gaps. You also want to throw the ball pretty quick because it takes longer for ends to get home. I think Tim said Cousins was getting the ball out fast.
Cousins was getting it out fast. He didn’t have a completion longer than 21 yards with RB Jeanty and TE Meyer leading them in receptions. Those 2 together had more receptions (12 of 21) than their entire WR group.
Randy, maybe I am wrong playing a lot of the wide 9. I only got to watch the second half.
“– On the defensive line, the Dolphins went big, with Zach Sieler, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers all playing more than 40 snaps and Chop Robinson the only edge defender to reach that number.”
Also, “– The Dolphins didn’t use two tight ends very often after doing it on the first snap, with Kacmarek playing only 14 snaps.”
—————
Alain Poupart’s snap breakdown:
https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/onsi/breaking-down-the-miami-dolphins-2026-week-1-snap-counts-01m2fqhd4aht
If the plan was to go big to stop their run game, they did NOT do a good job of it.
He was easily the Dolphins’ most impactful offensive player against Las Vegas, and one stat puts his stellar debut in a historical perspective.
Douglas’ 94 receiving yards mark the most ever from a Dolphins rookie in their debut.
That says a lot, considering all the great wideouts the team has drafted over the decades.
I didn’t realize that Kyle Louis left the game with a knee injury yesterday.
Any word on his condition?
It hurts
Brian Miller gives the rookies far better grades than the beat reporters.
https://phinphanatic.com/week-1-rookie-grades-miami-dolphins-have-building-blocks-that-can-t-be-ignored-01m26apadavn
BBM,
No worries, When I saw that Wonderstache had 14 tackles I wondered if we were in Wide 9 much because it means your MLB is usually getting a lot of work.
I also knew Cousins is just too smart not to read it quick and know how to beat it….and throwing short controlled passes is his wheel house anyway. Sounds like the Raiders had a good game plan.
That’s why I fear Brock Purdy even more this week and their 2 headed rushing attack.
Mike Masala said that Sully was the lone GM who attended the Ohio State/Texas game. I kind of find that hard to believe.
Rock,
I’m not too concerned about how rookies looked in their first game. I’m more concerned about how second and third year guys looked. What did you think of guys like Jonah, Phillips, Biggers and PP?
We have 13 rookies, 5 guys with one season experience and 9 with two years experience. That’s a young team. This was the first game for everyone involved. I don’t see any reason to panic. I expect the team to get better as the season progresses. It may not be a lot of wins, but better football.
That’s how I feel. I said a month ago there is going to be that game where everything comes together as these young players improve. That game they are going to bitch slap one of the playoff contenders.
I don’t think ANYONE is panicking.
“I got to watch the tape, but you can just blame (the sacks) all on me,” Willis said. “I got to take care of the ball, and I got to do right by my offensive line, get the ball out.
“It takes all 11, got to make sure the receivers are in the right spot, got to make sure I’m doing the right thing, we got to make sure our backs are doing the right thing, and it all works together. But you can blame the sacks on me. A sack is a quarterback stat, and I’m going to take the O-line out for that.”
While Willis isn’t entirely to blame for the sacks, multiple times it was clearly a result of him holding onto the football too long. The sacks by the Raider defense were momentum-shifting plays, especially the ones on third down.
I don’t put all the blame on anyone. Since Tua has been here the focus has been getting it out quicker and making things easier for the OL. The ones who have been here got spoiled in that regard. Now that the OL has to work harder, we can see more of their weaknesses.
What do you mean we have to block someone for 3-3.5 seconds? That’s outrageous. lol
I found it refreshing that Malik could hold the ball that long that often. I thought the pocket looked good most of the game.
BBM,
Yep, SF and the Raiders are very similar in their skill position players and how they operate. It will be interesting to see what adjustments are or aren’t made.
By all accounts Willis is seen as a natural leader, and those quotes show it. Exactly what he should say…true or not. I just wish he was more than a backup.
Some positives: This is the first time the “starters” have played more than a few pre-season and (a lot of) practice snaps (useless for game situations). Add in the youth on both sides and what did you expect? It will take a few games. No one significant got injured. Pass-pro was relatively good – adequate. Didn’t run enough to gauge run blocking, but it wasn’t horrible. Caleb Douglas may be a thing. The D strengthened in the second half. Willis escaped (most) pressure, something Tua could never do. Now some negatives: Chop is a flop; He has only been good when there were great rushers on the other side to command attention. D-line is weak, no push, no drive; should have sacked cement-footed Cousins multiple times. The O-line is still at least two people away from being more than adequate. Special teams coverage is a disaster. Willis is not a read and anticipate QB – he can only throw to open receivers and not to the spot (Tua was actually good at this). Use Achane more! He should have had the same day Jeanty had and it would have taken the pressure off Willis. And finally, nothing has changed in the boneheaded department. Penalties and missed assignments at the worst times to kill momentum have been a staple of this team for years. All that said, I’m still tuning in this week, and every week, to see what improvements the team can make.
^
The O-line is still at least two people away from being more than adequate.
———–
Refer to BBM’s 2027 free agent want list in Rams RT Warren McClendon Jr and Eagles RG Tyler Steen.
Willis is not a read and anticipate QB – he can only throw to open receivers and not to the spot
—-
Another good point
Realist,
Thanks for the insight. I wish I could tune in every week! Lol
Did you happen to notice how they were guarding Douglas? Sounds like he had good numbers, but was the defense taking away other stuff? It doesn’t sound like anybody else did much.
We had a of things go against us early, some self inflicted penalties and some mysterious calls with no great explanation. Every time we got something going we made a mistake. That’s why I said yesterday it looked like a very young and new team playing together for the first time. But I saw some good signs here and there.
J-Rod is everything we’ve been hearing. He’s just like Zach was as a rookie, all over the place making tackles and disrupting plays.
Randy
says:
September 14, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Rock,
I’m not too concerned about how rookies looked in their first game. I’m more concerned about how second and third year guys looked. What did you think of guys like Jonah, Phillips, Biggers and PP?
Reply
Randy, I have been focused on the rookies because they are the only sliver of light in this tunnel.
Jonah looked barely better than he did last year. PP looked like he has regressed (or more accurately played to mean not pumped up by aqua colored glasses)
Phillips and Biggers were bullied and blow 2 yards off the line in short yardage and were doing turtle on their back impressions on some plays. I was most disappointed in our 2nd year guys as I grant the rookies some grace.
Talk to me after game 6. That’s when we’ll know what teams are going to do what.
I was talking to my long time friend and fellow Dolphins fan earlier and he said let’s see what it looks like mid season. That’s my mindset. This particular group of people haven’t been through anything together yet.
We start on the road out west 2 games and 3 of the first 4 are on the road. This new group are being challenged right from the get go. It’s probably a good thing to build team. Fighting through diversity brings people together.
The next game is going to be a tough one. We’re talking a final 4 NFC type team in the 49ers. But I think it’s a good thing to show the young guys how tough it is at that level. Easy peasy doesn’t tell you anything.
Fighting through diversity brings people together.
LOL Is that a Freudian slip? I know the right is fighting DEI everywhere thy can, but….
OH, you meant Adversity. OK. LOL
BBM,
More vids! I can watch the OL in all of them.
It’s really difficult to know much about this team after one game in a rebuilding year with a new HC and GM. What I mean by that is we don’t know what the team’s identity is, the strengths and weaknesses, the tendencies, and what victory generally will look like for us (run-heavy, pass-heavy, even, killer Offense, killer Defense, neither, both, narrow or blowout wins, play from behind, or play with a lead).
We don’t even know if it was the game-plan that was bad, or if it was the individual matchups that were bad… maybe both.
I agree with Phelon, that it will take about 6 games in, to get a better grasp of what’s going on. That includes the team itself, not just the media and us fans as observers.
That stated, we can certainly gain some insight as to some positives (J-Rod and Douglas) and some negatives (D-Line, Chop, and O-Line). Yet, until something on this new and young team begins to trend over the next several games (whether to the positive or negative), it’s just one game… too small a sample size to make definitive assessments.
The team needs time to gel and the season is in its infancy.
Time will reveal…
GO PHINS!!!
Randy, you can watch the DL in this one.
no matter what the result was – it was good to see so many rookies get immediate playing time….it was good to see 2nd year players get that time too
that’s pretty much our team now – if you weren’t drafted in the last couple of years, you are a grizzly vet
Pretty much. Malik at QB is a good beginning. He’s developed and still young.
Realist
says:
September 14, 2026 at 1:54 pm
…Willis is not a read and anticipate QB – he can only throw to open receivers and not to the spot (Tua was actually good at this)…
————
Realist,
Good to see ya here again, man!
What you stated above is EXACTLY what I was thinking when we brought Malik Willis to Miami and Bobby Slowik’s system.
That’s not to take ANYTHING away from Willis, but as you correctly stated above, he’s a classic gun-slinger… not a ‘read-and-anticipate QB’ who throws to spots like Tua.
So I wonder if we’re ultimately trying to mold Willis into that Tua role, or if we’re trying to mold our receivers into ‘get open’ and get ready for the gun-slinging abilities of Willis?
I sense the latter, not the former, but I think it’s too early to tell after one mere game.
So to me, it comes down to either Slowik adapting to Willis, or Willis adapting to Slowik.
For those who don’t already know: Slowik comes from the WCO with ‘read-and-anticipate QBs’.
Good post, Realist.
By the way and for clarity,
I said Willis is a classic gun-slinger. I meant that as he sees an open receiver and lets it rip.
No, he’s not a classic pocket-passer, as he has the ability to move around in the pocket and even run.
Hope that makes sense.
I don’t think anything they’re doing has anything to do with Tua. Malik is not the same because he definitely looks for the biggest throw first. He has a superior arm. It gets to where it’s going very quickly. Then he can bail and run. It was one game with lots of young and new players.
Well I certainly HOPE we’re not trying to turn Malik into Tua. As I stated above, I sense the latter (meaning, I don’t believe we’re trying to turn Malik into Tua as an anticipatory passer).
So is Bobby Slowik the right guy to be OC for Malik? Maybe, maybe not. I feel Realist made a great observation.
We’re on the same page: it was only one game with lots of young and new players.
But keep in mind (and even Malik said as much), Malik held onto the ball too long in many sits. That’s a credit to the O-Line… and Slowik may want Malik to get rid of it faster (anticipatory throws).
the previous O was designed for weenie arm Tua, if had to throw to an open receiver downfield the DB would close the gap before the ball arrived
its difficult to learn and why our backup QBs sucked
Brian and Tim,
Yes, it was only one game. But I’m concerned about our guy Chop when both the Kicker and the Punter had more tackles than he yesterday. That’s just EMBARRASSING.
Credit to Rockphin for bringing this to my attention!
It’s definitely going to be a long season for those of you expecting this team to be top 4 in the AFC. Have you ever done anything with a group of people for the first time and it was okay? After 3-4 times it’s much better.
well a lot of our rookies played pretty good
Slowik was awful
Tim,
Our first year with Tony Sparano? Playoffs
Our first year with Adam Gase? Playoffs
Our first year with Mike McDaniel? Playoffs
And after 3 to 4 times, it only got worse.
That means nothing.
It means I’m used to getting my heart broken, time and time again under Steve Ross’ ownership.
my pseudo team this year is Denver, for Waddle
So what is it Slowik did wrong? I’ve seen a few people dog him.
He didn’t call the plays they would have 😂
his disregard of the run allowed Raiders to pin their ears back and just rush the QB
Willis is not an NFL starter. The faster folks realize that, the faster the pain can be mollified by liquor.
we have 16 more to find out
Stephen Ross is killing us. Oy! Can anything new have a chance?
Absolutely! But I wouldn’t expect much.
“You are what your record says you are” ~ Bill Parcells
Alrighty then!
131 wins and 146 losses… worst in franchise history as an owner.
M13,
I think Parcells was a fantastic coach and master manipulator but seemed like a prick. Anyway, two of my favorite saying he’d use are
“It’s always darkest before it’s pitch black.”
“A piece of shit plays better defense than you. At least if shit is out there somebody might slip on it.” Or something like that. Lol
sounds like Yogi-isms
steve,
Gotcha. I didn’t see the game, but were we down where we had to throw? Did he give up on it early? Was it even working?
you gotta change something up
I don’t think he’s doing Willis any favors, if Willis is our QB I expect Slowik is gone
can’t wait until tomorrow
today is over-reaction Monday
Kenneth Walker is going to make KC a tough out
steve,
I don’t know if any of Parcells sayings were his own.
Parcells also started off 3-13 as a rookie HC and was almost fired after one year.
3-12-1 lol
when I predicted 3-14 one of my reasons was young teams don’t get any calls. I think that still holds true
bootleg shortened game
its bad camera work, but if you didn’t see the game…
safe to say Hafley should’ve played the starters more in PS
There’s a reason Phins are projected to get the #1 pick. Not sure why people are upset at what they saw. Lol
How many of those guys had their first NFL action yesterday? It’s going to be a long season if you’re looking for Ws. Only thing to look for is improvement as this season wears on. But its going to be a rough start.
Yeah but what about Stephen Ross? 🤪
Out of the picture
😂
We played decent for what we are. The D is nearly a complete overhaul, with a lot of new players on the team. Lots of hope for the future though (Anderson, Taffe, Trader, Rodriquez).
The fact of the matter is the Raiders are a better team than us. Most of the NFL is this year. We will be underdogs in nearly ever game we play this season, and that’s saying a lot. There will be growing pains, but I think we are headed in the right direction.
Also, I was dead wrong in the Douglas pick. Nice to see him putting up numbers in a regular season game, and not being a training camp/preseason tease like so many of or WR mid round draft picks in the last.
steve,
Gotcha. I didn’t see the game, but were we down where we had to throw? Did he give up on it early? Was it even working?
——————
Randy, we only ran the ball 4 times the entire 2nd half and we were only down 17-13 at one point. Then down 24-13 but still had 9:58 left in the 3rd quarter. We only ran 3 times from that point. Two of the last 3 second half rushes were after Wright’s 79 yard kickoff return where we started the drive at the Raiders 18 yard line.
Down 24-13 with 9:58 left in the 3rd quarter from that point on is when 4 of 5 sacks on Malik came and his INT.
BBM,
Thanks. Giving up on the run has become pretty common place in the NFL.
We had 79 yard KO return? Nice.
Rockphin to Tim
says:
September 15, 2026 at 8:26 am
Fighting through diversity brings people together.
LOL Is that a Freudian slip? I know the right is fighting DEI everywhere thy can, but….
OH, you meant Adversity. OK. LOL
——————————————————-
Only the loony left thinks diversity for the sake of diversity is a good thing. America was built on the assimilation of diverse culture to build something new. Heck…we even embraced Canadians and the only thing they’ve contributed culturally is hockey, bad whiskey, Canadian bacon, and Rock!
🤣
phelon,
I agree with you, but it’s not like Americans just assimilated out of the goodness of their hearts. It was often forced…violently. DEI blows, but humans rarely just accept diversity willingly. We are all tribal by nature.
And I’m not sure who here has embraced Rock….what happens at the Dolphins Fests stays at the fests! Lol
Sonny, Herd, MikeE, Mrs. MikeE, Mrs. Toba, (list of Festers that I can recall embracing)
Also, just to point it out, I didn’t say anything in support of DEI, I was just attempting to be witty with Tim’s typo.
I avoid politics on here like splinter filled toilet paper.
We had 79 yard KO return? Nice.
———–
Yeah, if we had put that in the EZ from the 18, it would have been 27-20 and right back in the game as that was still in the 3rd quarter. Willis took a bad sack after being chased out of the pocket instead of throwing the ball away and all we ended up with was a missed FG.
The Dolphins defense had tightened up big time in the 4th quarter. The Raiders next 4 series in the 4th quarter ended in 3 punts and an INT. On those 4 drives, the Raiders only gained 9 total yards on 14 plays.
We actually had a chance to do something had we scored after the long kickoff return with 2:27 left on the clock in the 3rd quarter.
Even after Trader’s INT with 11:42 left on the clock in the 4th quarter we started that drive on the Raiders 44 yard line but our offense went incomplete, incomplete, sack and punt.
Hey, NFL.com moved us up from 32 to 30 in their power rankings over the #31 Titans and #32 Browns.
ESPN moved us up one spot to 31 ahead of the Browns. lol