Well Dolphins fans, our young team performed much like a young team does. Mistakes, mistakes, and more mistakes. I’m not worried in the least that we lost to a team that many people pointed out to be the “one team we can beat”. We are a very young, very inexperienced team. Add in to the equation that due to Sully and Haf’s choice to evaluate the bottom half of the roster by playing them extensively in the Preseason, which in turn left the greater majority of starters playing 1 drive only, and that in the very first preseason game, which in case you forgot was a month ago, August 14th. You can hate the decision or agree with it, but either way, to expect a large group of players who are very young to not play together at all, and expect them to defeat a team laden with veteran players who have played together, it’s kind of silly. On the other hand, to expect this team to perform better each and every game now that they have played together, and will continue to do so is also fair.
This week, the Miami Dolphins stayed in Cali, after their defeat by the hands of the Raiders, not quite the “Sea of Hands”, but effective enough. I hope the lack of travel gives us a leg up, we can sure use any advantage. The 49ers had to travel back from Australia after dismantling the team thought of as a Superbowl favorite in the NFC, the Los Angeles Rams. The Niners kept their foot on the gas in that game and never looked back. The LA Rams never got off the mat in this one falling 27-7, and believe me, the score isn’t even accurate gauge of how efficiently and thoroughly the Niners beat the Rams. Third down efficiency tells a big story, and this one reveals a lot. SF was 7-12 (58%) on 3rd Down while the Rams languished at 2-9 (22%). The 49ers held a 7 minute edge with the time of possession, 33:50 – 26:10. This will be their objective again, and we saw how easily 2nd year RB Ashton Jeanty ran all over our defense, and the 49ers have a fantastic tandem with CMC (Christian McCaffrey) and rookie 3rd RD pick RB Kaelon Black. Last week against the Rams these 2 combined for 133 yards and that could be 333 yards unless our front 7 play better.
I think one important aspect for us is doing a better job of getting RB De’Von Achane the ball. He’s our best offensive weapon, hands down, and there’s no excuse for not using him a lot. We just paid him well, (4YR/$64M) so now it’s time to get rewards on your investment. It’s pretty simple really, if we can the ball effectively,. we take away their advantage of holding the ball from us. of course, this will require a significant improvement in our defensive play, but improving from what we did last week shouldn’t be asking a lot. RB Ashton Jeanty accounted for 147 total yards, 102 rushing on 23 carries and 45 receiving yards on 6 receptions. We have to find similar success this week for Achane. If we do, we can stay in this game, a game where the Home 49ers are just shy of 14 point favorites.
I like what I saw out of our Wide Receivers last week, especially rookie WR Caleb Douglas who made it evident why he was a 3rd RD choice, and perhaps not the reach everyone here said he was. WR Caleb Douglas made a big splash, hauling in 5 receptions for 94 yards, including 35 yards after the catch. On the other side of the ledger was rookie wideout Chris Bell, our other 3rd RD pick. WR Chris Bell was targeted only twice and he finished with only 1 reception for 25 yards. Not disappointing in any way though, I think it’s fantastic he’s on the 53 man roster and playing, and not on IR/R. 2nd year WR Malik Washington was the most targeted receiver with 8, but the small statured Washington only came up with 3 receptions for 53 yards. Not having enough balance of the running game and trhe passing game didn’t help the QB, the receivers, or the O-line, or the game result for that matter, but OC Bobby Slowik will most likely make some changes for Week 2.
I think the biggest disappointment for me was the D-line. I expected better from Sieler, Phillips, Biggers and Chop, but it’s important to note that DL Zeek Biggers didn’t play one snap in the preseason. Regardless, this unit just has to be better. No pass rush at all, especially considering we were up against the cement footed veteran QB Kirk Cousins. Cousins, the 38 YO QB attempted 30 passes and was not sacked. If you thought the above stats with the 49ers and Rams looked slanted, the Raiders had the ball for even longer, 34:53 – 25:07. Hard to win a game where your defense spends all that time on the field. DE Chop Robinson is optimistically questionable for this game with a concussion, and if he can’t go, RDE Josh Uche and backup DE Malik Herring will be tasked with the pressure of getting pressure.
One unit that looked so bad and good at the same time was the secondary. Rookie 1st RD pick CB Chris Johnson was a big contributor to the bad. He was beaten all over the field, by RB’s and WR’s alike. I’m not worried about him, again, lack of experience and playing time in the preseason definitely stung us in Game 1. Not that one game makes him a seasoned veteran, but he will be better if the 49ers challenge him like the Raiders did. One thing I can say in the positive for Chris Johnson is he can play the run and tackle. He will get better and better with more playing time. Rookie S Michael Taaffe recorded his first INT, along with 2nd year Safety Dante Trader who got his first INT of 2026. As for the LB’s, ILB Jacob Rodriguez stuffed that stat lines with 14 total tackles (5 solo, 9 assisted). The aforementioned rookie CB Chris Johnson was 2nd with 11 tackles (5 solo, 6 assisted). Also, despite getting beat, rookie CB Chris Johnson led the Dolphins D with 2 passes defensed.
I think overall, the O-line looked at the very least serviceable. I think TE Will Kacmarek is still banged up, he didn’t look like a sledgehammer, or even the best blocking TE in the draft, but again, not playing in the preseason didn’t help him any. If it sounds like I’m killing Sully and Haf here, I’m not. Just pointing out that they had a difficult decision to make, to evaluate the bottom half of the roster knowing full well who was making the top end. They chose to do that in lieu of getting starters more reps and familiarity. It was a necessary evil though, considering our lack of cap space and the knowledge we had to field a very young 53 man roster. One player who looked particularly good in Game 1 was our first first RD pick LG Kadyn Proctor. He was mobile, athletic, and nasty, all wonderful traits to have, and he used them well.
One especially disappointing revelation was our ST’s play. More specifically, punt and kickoff coverage, or lack thereof. We allowed KR RB Dylan Laube 2 returns for a total of 95 yards, and his long was 50, so doing the math, we allowed 2 KO returns for over 45 yards.. Unacceptable!!!! With a young team, we should have guys flying around cracking skulls, not what we saw. That just has to be better, or no matter what the rest of the team does, they will be playing from behind. On punt returns, we allowed 2 returns for 34 yards. One return was 23 yards, the other 11. Again, we have to be better there.
It’s so difficult to evaluate our QB play. On the one hand, it was truly wonderful to see our QB have the ability to not only have the physical and mental capacity to run past a first down marker, and not get killed, but to actually do it! One thing I can point out with certainty is that QB Malik Willis held onto the ball too darn long. He needs to get that clock in his head and use it. 5 sacks for 35 yards. His passing stats were not good, 15-27 220 yards, 0TD, 1 INT. He added 39 yards on 6 carries. I know Malik Willis was just trying to make things happen, and when you have a bunch of young receivers who don’t have the savvy to wriggle free of coverage, he just needs to throw the ball away. I’m sure Haf and OC Bobby Slowik had this discussion with Malik Willis.
So what do we expect in Week 2, on the road, against the very formidable San Francisco 49ers in their home opener. For those of you in the know, this is the “Patterson Bowl”, Doug VS Dar. Our resident Dolphins fan blogger Doug and his wife Darlene, a Niners fan. House divided and all that jazz. Dar must be licking her chops for this one as the Dolphins look like easy prey, but sometimes, things aren’t what they appear. Especially in the NFL, where crazy things happen all season long, could the Dolphins upset the 49ers to knock a trillion people out of their “Knockout Pools”? Last week it was the LA Chargers, could it stay in Cali and be the Niners who look like one of the best NFL teams after Week 1? Stay tuned!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
I’m not sure how much it will actually help, but this is “good news”
Edge Chop Robinson will return to practice today. Hafley says he needs to “figure out” a way for his personnel to generate more pressure on quarterbacks. “I need to make sure I’m not getting frustrated.” (Update: Robinson was seen at practice. He was wearing an aqua jersey as opposed to a red, non-contact jersey.)
Haf has said it’s not all on Chris Johnson because help was late and the safeties confirmed that. They’re all trying to get the system down simultaneously.
watching a Ryder video, why the O struggled, I can see the problem. Ryder has a different take
we’re playing to slow, 49ers in comparison are flying all over the field
what that tells me is these guys aren’t in synch and aren’t ready to play, and as a team, could’ve used more PS game reps for starters
I don’t think its a talent issue, just an experience issue
sure we’re thin talentwise, but that isn’t what’s creating our issues on the field. Guys like Jackson, Brewer, Brooks, Sieler and Gay don’t look like they did last year
A lot of teams are having these issues early.
You can see it in some of these rookies that they are busy thinking out there on the field.
This one was okay, then she came with the last one liner.
It’s true about Collinsworth. lol
Tim Knight
says:
September 23, 2026 at 5:26 pm
A lot of teams are having these issues early.
———–
Agreed, and there’s a rhyme and reason for that when so many teams are experiencing the same thing.
At least Roger Goodell just recently got a 3-year extension. 😡
So, Let me get this straight, You believe Goodell personally responsible for the CBA negotiations that cut practice? It wasn’t the PLAYERS? I think you got that twisted a bit.
The COLLECTIVELY BARGAINED the deal, and the PLAYERS were adamant about reducing practice and contract for “health reasons”
rich0322
says:
September 22, 2026 at 11:17 pm
Warning: this 2-round mock draft doesn’t have us taking a QB. You’ve been warned.
(Trade down with Cleveland, not using current standings since it’s only been 2 weeks) Miami gets #3, #24 & #35; Cleveland gets #1 and mid-round pick.
3. Jeremiah Smith-WR, Ohio St. (Might be the best WR to come out since Randy Moss)
24. Will Echoles-DL, Ole Miss (very dynamic and I believe he’ll be better than any D-lineman on our current roster)
33. Kenyatta Jackson-Edge, Ohio St (Good size, good pass rush, sets edge, and can even drop back at times in coverage)
35. Melvin Siani-OT, Texas (Elite athlete who can play either OT position)
———–
LOVE IT!
However (and I have to side with Rockphin), hopefully, this is the last time in a long time we get to pick so early in the Draft.
Generally speaking, that means ya draft your franchise QB: no more important position in all of organized sport.
IF Malik shows and proves this season, to warrant keeping him for a long time, your Draft ROCKS!!!
IF Malik doesn’t show enough this season (hard to judge him with so little talent around him), you almost have to draft the franchise QB.
So for me, it’s far too early to judge. Just wanted to tell ya that IF Malik shows and proves this season, I’ll take your mock draft to the bank, Rich!
Malik has played fast at times, at other times the OL has made him look bad, at other times he holds the ball too long, but he’s trying to make a play, when a play was desperately needed
and other times he completely missed the wide open receiver and forced the ball into coverage. (Not the WR fault)
Who told the Miami Dolphins to draft Hex Masses? ME
2 INTs in his rookie debut
@BaldyNFL
.
@Raiders
@chargers
@HezekiahMasses
what a smashing debut…cover skills of an elite CB; with a Lber mentality …and the swagger of Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Bloody spell check: HEZ Masses
Video –> https://x.com/BaldyNFL/status/2102474550843748563
I took Hez in the 3rd round of my final mock draft. He fell to the Raiders in the 5th round.
Live in the moment or not.
Be here now….
I just read that not only did Douglas not practice because of his ankle, Bell has been limitted because of a knee injury. That will make it that much tougher to compete against KC this weekend.
“That Caleb Douglas wouldn’t practice Wednesday already was known before the first injury report for the Dolphins’ home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs was released, but what wasn’t was the situation involving fellow rookie Chris Bell.
The third-round pick from Louisville was a limited participant in practice Wednesday because of a knee issue, which immediately raises concerns given that he’s coming off a torn ACL. We don’t know whether there it’s the same knee that’s involved, whether it’s an aggravation or new injury or whether simply discomfort in the surgically repaired knee.”
Even worse!
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, there was yet another injury issue at wide receiver, that one with Ryan Miller, who was listed as limited because of hip/back issues
Malik might have to throw to himself this weekend!
Plan for the future and execute!
This is interesting. I did not know they changed that rule this year.
It should be noted that players on IR are allowed this year to start practicing after two weeks even if they still must sit out four games, but neither Trey Moore nor Kenneth Grant are ready to work yet.
I preferred the late games. I could sleep up until the game was going to start. With the 1pm game Sunday I am going to pass streaming it and get my sleep in.
As a “day walker” I have the opposite opinion. I have always preferred 1pm games, but I get where you are coming from.
There is a good slate of college games this weekend. Finally getting past most of the miss match games and into conference play.
Friday night we have a tough 2-0 Northwestern team led by former Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles at #5 Indiana at 7pm on FOX.
The other Friday night game to watch is 2-1 Clemson at 2-1 California at 9:30pm on ESPN. Cal is led by Sophomore QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. He’s a lefty from Hawaii, Hmmm??? He’s nothing like that other guy though. He’s big and tough at 6’3, 225 with a strong arm and quick release. Being a true sophomore, I think he gets a big NIL offer and transfers after this season.
There are at least 15 good matchups on Saturday. I will post those later.
The Dolphins brought back AJ Henning to their practice squad today. I bet the activate him this week with all the injuries they are nursing in the WR room.
I hope they do activate him and he balls out.
Are we stuck with a long snapper with an injured shoulder? New Orleans poached Cal Adomitis off of our practice squad last week, we cut long snapper Luke Basso from our practice squad yesterday to sign AJ Henning and Tucker Addington has been wearing the red non-contact jersey because of this shoulder injury this week.
I guess they are going to go with Tucker, banged up as he is and back up Thumbstache?
It’s a strange twist that we went from 3 long snappers between the 53 and PS to one injured guy in less than a week.
They must feel good about Tucker’s outlook? Even though he was in non-contact jersey.
Man, people will write anything for clicks.
https://dolphinstalk.com/2026/09/would-dolphins-trade-malik-willis/
OF COURSE NOT! (man I wish they had a comments section!)
what would they get in return? a 5th round pick? a 6th? a swap of picks? Not much more than that I guarantee. A second is ludicrous and not ever going to happen.
And why would Miami do that? What would be the purpose? To tank HARDER? What a stupid article.
That would leave us with Kyle McCord and Brady Cook who have never taken a snap with the first team, and were not even in training camp with the team. I don’t think JES would do that for a first round pick.
I would do it for a 2nd rounder but that isn’t going to happen. Much cheaper options for the Giants in trading for Mason Rudolph or Flacco.
I hope everyone is excited about the Bills wearing their Pepsi can look this weekend
https://www.buffalobills.com/fans/nickel-city-uniform
hmmmm, for some reason I can’t bring myself to care what the Bills are wearing.
maybe if you were thirsty for a Diet Pepsi you would feel differently…
https://www.samsclub.com/ip/diet-pepsi-soda-12-oz-cans-36-pk/15383253127
Positive article. I agree.
https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/onsi/why-these-aren-t-the-2019-dolphins-and-not-even-close-01m39wtcfmg0
But HOPE is a four letter word
3 of the NFLs leading tacklers after 2 weeks are rookies
our guy with the great mustache
Anthony Hill and Josiah Trotter
Really good LB class last draft
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The NFL fined San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk $14,926 on Thursday for “engaging in offensive demonstrations.”
According to the league, Juszczyk violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, when he did an “imitation of chugging a beer” with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter of the Niners’ win against the Miami Dolphins.
————
This is just stupid
Juszczyk has already appealed the fine, he told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Juszczyk, who goes by the nickname “Juice,” has done the celebration for years and has said that he’s drinking his “juice” when asked about it. He has never been fined previously for the celebration and told Schefter via text that, “I don’t even drink beer.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong has first 40-40 season in Chicago Cubs franchise history, 45 HR’s and 40 SB’s with 3 games left in the regular season.
@DavidFurones_
Here’s more as Dolphins edge rusher Chop Robinson clears concussion protocol and has decided to begin wearing a Guardian cap after his fifth concussion going back to college.
————-
Wait, wha??? FIVE concussions now, dating back to college??? NOT GOOD.
Chop officially has 5 career NFL starts… and he has 5 known concussions now, dating back to college. Ya can’t make this stuff up.
10 career sacks, 5 known concussions.
This is Cal QB Sagapolutele’s freshman season. You can see the arm talent as just a freshman. He’s been working on his throwing motion and is throwing less sidearm this year so far. Again, he will get a good test Friday night against Clemson. He’s one to watch this year and next and is eligible for the 2028 draft.
Happy Thursday night, Charissa Thompson!!! 😍
And just like that, Penix is intercepted.
he looks like shit too
I’ve seen parts of 3 GB games, they’ve looked like shit every week
Howie’s LIst
Week 3 KC @ 🐬
🗿 34 -17 KC
My receptionist’s husband has season tickets and asked her to ask me if I wanted to go to the game with him on Sunday. (Their son who usually goes is out of town for something) I struggled with myself yesterday before telling her no thank you.
Just a passing observation (in a passive aggressive manner) I noted that the season predictions posted above are still the ones from 2025.
If one of you Admins could release the season predictions above from Spam that would be great.
If you could post the final picks up there in the margin where the 2025 picks are that would be EVEN GREATER. LOL
I can clear from spam. I don’t know how to change the sidebar items. I think twice does that. Hopefully he sees this and can take care of it.
thanks Herd! Question: Do you lurk waiting to be summoned? LOL
you are always so quick to help, but sometimes I don’t see you posing unless I am having difficulties! ha
Looking forward to seeing you the week after next.
it’s that soon! Man time flies faster every year I live through.
NOT SPAM
FMU 2026 Season Predictions
🗿 4-13
🎣 5-12
🦈 17-0
🤚 7-10
🎰 6-11
🐘 6-11
🇨🇦 2-15
🦬 4-13
🐖 8-9
🗽4-13
📘👮♂️ 3-14
🇬🇧4-13
⚖️ 4-13
🪨 5-12
🏈 6-11
⚔ 9-8
🤠 1-16
🌴6-11
Rock – Why are the season predictions so important that they need to be on the sidebar?
Mike, They are not I guess, but we do it every year and still have LAST YEARS up there. I mean it doesn’t bother me, it’s just a tradition.
The season schedule doesn’t need to be up there either, we can all find it elsewhere.
I don’t want to it up there, I’m going to be at least 6 games off!!! 🤣
Rock:
I don’t lurk, but if I read and either have nothing to say OR count to ten and decide it’s better to say nothing I scroll on by.
I used to get a notification if something was being held up but not recently. I usually look at the blog while having morning coffee or otherwise bored. I don’t look at spam unless I see it pointed out as you do.
LOL 🕵️♂️
I can’t log in at work. I was logged in, somehow got logged out, and I can’t get back on. It’s ridiculous! I don’t really have time, but occasionally I check in, want to respond, but can’t. You have no idea how angry that makes me
any of you fellas have Bijan Robinson on your fantasy team? Holy crap he went off last night didn’t he?
Had him last year, picked at #5 this year, he was gone by then. No one has gone off like Josh Allen though. He’s been ridiculous, 45 points per game
Actually, Allen is only averaging 38 points per game, he scored 35.66 and 40.82 in my league. Still, those are crazy numbers
Not surprisingly, WordPress is not letting me update the sidebar. I go to save and it just spins its wheels forever. If/when WordPress ever decides to allow me to update the sidebar, I will.
Also looked through the settings and didn’t see any way for the moderators to get notifications for spam. So if the AI spam detector that WordPress so generously added to any WordPress site decides a legitimate post is spam – not a lot that can be done there straight away. However, I did bump the allowed links in a comment up a bit to hopefully cut down on those legit comments with a bunch of inadvertent links in them being flagged as spam…
All frustrating I know but we’re kind of at the mercy of our WordPress overlords…
I usually go to the dashboard, and I’ll occasionally see a comment that is hung up waiting for approval, but yes, there is no way for us to see if a comment went to spam, so unless someone tells us about it, we can’t possibly know about it
We appreciate you! We Appreciate you!
So, who is definitely coming to the Fest Game? We are trying to make sure everyone has a ride and who is going to the tailgate before.
Rock has pass – Mike E and Fam riding with
Herd has pass – Herd’s fam riding with
Krishna has pass – Sonny and 2 friends ridding with.
I cannot remember who else said they were coming.
I believe Boulder and Phelon are also coming, but not positive on either count
I think the vehicle I’m getting is supposed to hold 5. 4 of us. Might be a bit crowded in the back but could likely take one with us. If you’re not drinking and can drive, bonus points! 😂
Herd did not mention that ALL the passengers in her car are women.
I just bought an aqua colored 10 x 10 tent / shade online for the fest so we can have some shade. It should be delivered by Oct 6th they said. It better not be a day late or I will leave home without it. LOL
I’m spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave! I just bought a NEW folding table because mine has a crack in it. LOL (the crack has never bothered me before now.)
SHIT!
Caleb Douglas OUT this Sunday.
mfrmrmfrm!!
When I bought the parking pass it said guaranteed delivery by Oct 6th. I just go the confirmation email and now it says Oct 8th. (I will already be down in Hollywood)
I might have to make the 100 mile round trip to go and get the pass! MFRMRMFRM!
Damn! The hits keep coming.
Caleb Douglas is OUT
Ryan Miller, who provided Miami’s biggest offensive play against San Francisco with a long touchdown reception, is dealing with hip and back injuries. Miller was limited Wednesday before being downgraded to a non-participant Thursday.
Rookie Chris Bell has also been limited this week because of his knee. Bell continues to work his way back after tearing his ACL during his final college season at Louisville. Bell said this week that he plans to play Sunday, which matters given the current state of Miami’s receiving corps.
With Douglas unavailable and Miller’s status uncertain, the Dolphins could be forced to lean more heavily on Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert and Bell against Kansas City.
It’s funny. I have not heard one person righteously saying how Chop Robinson MUST retire because he has had FIVE concussions.
I mean, it would be best for him right? Probably best for the team too?
It was with Tua….
You’re right, not one person
NEW BLOG UP!!!