The Miami Dolphins are off to a 0-3 start to the 2026 season, and the teams they have faced have been the exact opposite thus far. Through the first three weeks of action, the Dolphins' opponents are a perfect 9-0, and they will meet another undefeated team on Sunday when they travel to face the 3-0 Minnesota Vikings.
As if this is not enough of an arduous task, Miami will see a few familiar faces on the defensive side of the ball. On the field, outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel will see his former team for the first time. Additionally, defensive coordinator and former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores will have his second meeting with the Dolphins since his firing following the 2021 season.
After his three years with Miami, where his record
was 24-25, Flores spent one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers as their senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. He then found a very good situation with the Vikings and has been excellent in his coordination with them since 2023. Flores also has legal matters that are still ongoing with the franchise. He filed the suit in 2022, with the defendants being Miami, the league, and several other teams, alleging racial discrimination in NFL coaching and hiring practices.
Currently, Flores and his Vikings defense have the most sacks in the NFL with 14, and lead the league in third-down defense. They are second in scoring defense, fourth in rushing defense, and ranked 22nd on the passing side of things. Their total defense is ranked 12th, and tied for 3rd in the NFL with six takeaways.
Flores, known for his scheming and blitzing, has Minnesota at the top of the league charts in blitz percentage at 66.4%, while the rest of the NFL is lower than 40%. His 89 blitzes through three weeks are well ahead of the second-most team, the Detroit Lions, with 52.
Ironically, Miami is dead last in the league in blitzes with 16 and sacks with zero. Minnesota, also to no surprise, leads the league in pressures with 54 and pressure percentage at 40.3%. This could pose a problem for Miami quarterback Malik Willis, who has not been great so far this season against the blitz. Per Pro Football Focus, Willis is 30th in the NFL against the blitz through three games.
As for Van Ginkel, Miami re-signed him to a one-year contract after the 2022 season. However, he was not offered a contract following his outstanding 2023 season, where he showed his potential under Miami’s defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, in his one year there. In 2023, Van Ginkel had 69 total tackles, eight for loss, six sacks, 19 quarterback hits, eight passes defensed and an interception, which was run back for a touchdown against the Washington Commanders.
In what could be one of the toughest scenarios for the Miami franchise in not retaining a drafted player, Van Ginkel, a 2019 fifth-round pick, wasn’t given a consistent chance to be the player the Vikings have now. During his five years with Miami, he played over 50% of the seasonal defensive snaps just twice, and in 2022 was underutilized with just 29% of the snaps. That number spiked to 66% in 2023, and back in 2021, while Flores was the head coach, he was at his Miami high with 71%.
In fact, when playing over 80% of the snaps on defense for Miami during his time there, the Dolphins had a record of 10-1. Combined with the Vikings, his team’s record when at over 80% of the defensive snaps is 25-6.
Van Ginkel signed with the Vikings in 2024, and after a career season, he earned Pro Bowl honors and was a Second-Team All-Pro that season. Over the past two seasons and three games with the Vikings, he has been one of the better edge rushers in the league. He has put up statistics that put him in rare company with some of the game's current and former best at the position.
So far in 2026, he has three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. He joins Jared Allen from the 2011 campaign as the only Vikings since sacks were first tracked in 1982 to have that stat line through the team's first three games of a season. Adding to this, he's one of four Vikings with at least 20 sacks through 30 games with the team, along with Allen (28), Keith Millard (21.5) and Kevin Williams (20.5).
Through his career, combined with his time in Miami, he has 62 tackles for loss, 37 passes defensed and five forced fumbles. The only other players to achieve those marks since 2019 are Lavonte David and T.J. Watt. Van Ginkel is now one of the team's captains.
Flores’ playcalling, Van Ginkel, and the rest of the Vikings defense will see a Dolphins team without superstar running back De’Von Achane, who is out for the season after a Week 3 ACL injury against the Kansas City Chiefs. At running back, Miami will rely on Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon II, who could have a relative committee situation in the backfield.
Wright and Gordon could potentially have some help from wide receivers Malik Washington and rookie Kevin Coleman Jr., each of whom is capable of some designed runs on sweeps or reverses. Miami will also be without rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas, who will miss his second game in a row with an ankle injury.
Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik has a tough task on Sunday and will have to put Willis and Miami’s offense in the best position to succeed against perhaps their toughest challenge to date this season, especially from a pressure and blitz standpoint. Slowik had a solid play-calling day last Sunday against Kansas City, but he and the Dolphins’ offense will have to be at the top of their ability to have a chance in Minnesota on Sunday.
Flores and Van Ginkel, no doubt, could view this as the ultimate revenge game. They will look to keep the Vikings unbeaten, while Miami is currently the odds-on favorite to pick first in the 2027 NFL Draft.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins will see familiar defensive faces against Vikings on Sunday
