Sure, the Miami Dolphins fell to 0-4 on Sunday with a 15-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But man, they went into one of the league’s toughest environments and held their own. Here are five things I think I think after Week 4.
The kids are growing up fast.
There’s young, and then there’s 2026 Dolphins young. Take a look at some of the snap counts from Week 4:
- Kadyn Proctor: 39/39 snaps
- Chris Bell: 32/39 snaps
- Kevin Coleman Jr.: 20/39 snaps
- Will Kacmarek: 24/39 snaps
- Jacob Rodriguez: 78/78 snaps
- Chris Johnson: 78/78 snaps
- Michael Taaffe: 78/78 snaps
That’s seven rookies of a 13-player class either starting or getting meaningful snaps. (And that’s excluding the team’s arguably No. 1 receiver Caleb Douglas, who’s nursing
an ankle injury, as well as fourth-round linebackers Kyle Louis and Trey Moore on the injured list.)
More importantly, the rookies didn’t look overwhelmed.
With 18 tackles, Jacob Rodriguez may have played his best game as a Dolphin. Michael Taaffe and Chris Johnson were solid on a defense that gave up just 15 points to an undefeated Vikings team. Wins be damned, it’s fun to have a team this young play this well.
The Dolphins may be building their identity on defense.
Coming into the season, most of the attention was on the offense. The big investment in quarterback Malik Willis. Replacing big-time receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle with a trio of high-potential rookies. Bolstering the offensive line and tight end room.
Yet four games in, the defense is starting to define this team. The Dolphins finally got to the quarterback, generating four sacks against Minnesota and consistently pressuring Kyler Murray. Chop Robinson delivered his most disruptive performance of the season with a sack and 10 pressures. Zach Sieler looked like the Zach Sieler Dolphins fans have come to expect. Joshua Uche continued his recent surge, and Malik Herring keeps finding ways to make himself noticed. And small sample size, but they’ve only allowed 19.5 points on average over the past two weeks.
For the first time this season, you can start to see what this defense wants to become: fast and aggressive. And with Kenny Grant plus Louis and Moore coming back, it might only get more disruptive.
We’re losing the hidden yardage game.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
- Opening drive: The Vikings run back the opening kick 47 yards to their 48-yard line.
- First quarter: After a failed Dolphins’ drive, the Vikings return the ensuing punt 36 yards to the Dolphins’ 38.
- Second quarter: Malik Willis sacked and fumbled at the Dolphins’ 39, and the Vikings recover at midfield.
The Vikings consistently started drives with shorter fields, while Miami’s offense repeatedly had to work its way out of its own territory. In a defensive slugfest where every first down felt significant, those hidden yards became a major factor.
I’m not especially worried about Malik Willis … but his lack of production is annoying.
The box score is ugly: Less than 100 passing yards usually tells a pretty straightforward story. That said, Brian Flores’ Vikings defense has made plenty of capable quarterbacks look uncomfortable. The Buccaneers passed only for 186 yards in Week 3, and the Bears for only 163 yards in Week 2. And Baker Mayfield and Caleb Williams have a lot more experience under center than Malik Willis.
Just the same, the quarterback has not made the same kind of progress that other positions have. The Dolphins are averaging only 163.5 passing yards, the third fewest in the NFL. They’re last in the league in completions and completion percentage, and have thrown only a single touchdown pass. And the team isn’t calling up as many designed runs for Willis – the Vikings game was the second in which Willis had only two rushing attempts.
There’s no Achane, of course, and building chemistry with rookie receivers will take time, especially when your top wideout is injured. Still, I’ll be eager to see what this team looks like when its offense has hit its stride.
The schedule may hide this team’s progress for a while.
The Dolphins entered the season facing one of the league’s hardest schedules, and it’s likely they will be underdogs in every game the rest of the year. That’s fine. But the way this team is growing, especially on defense, and the way it’s competing into the fourth quarter on the road against quality opponents, I think this team will ultimately be better than its record might indicate. There’s still a lot of development that needs to happen, but the amount of growth they’ve already shown is exciting.
