San Francisco, CA — There is nothing positive to take away from the San Francisco 49ers’ dismantling of the Miami Dolphins this Sunday. Miami was already behind the eight ball before kickoff, but the hope was that the younger team could compete and at least show some fight. Instead, the opposite happened.

The 49ers’ experience and talent advantage reigned supreme as the Dolphins were dominated in all three phases of the game.

Starting with the offense, Austin Jackson was constantly overrun by Nick Bosa without much help, leaving Malik Willis running for his life throughout the afternoon. Miami also could not find its way into the end zone. Multiple drives showed some life, but penalties and the inability to maintain a clean pocket consistently stalled the offense. De’Von Achane was much more involved this week, but even his increased workload could not translate into points.

Malik Willis and Ryan Miller did connect for a 77-yard touchdown with 2 minutes to go.

The bigger concern was how little Miami could generate offensively when things broke down. With Willis under constant pressure, the Dolphins struggled to sustain drives and put themselves in manageable situations. Against a team as talented as San Francisco, Miami could not afford to repeatedly put its young quarterback in difficult situations.

Defensively, it was a disaster. The 49ers scored on their first five drives, while Miami generated virtually no pressure. Brock Purdy finished with 287 passing yards and only two incompletions, while San Francisco’s ground game barely needed to be a factor. The 49ers consistently found space through the air, with multiple miscommunications in the secondary resulting in easy touchdowns. Miami ultimately surrendered 35 points.

Then came special teams. Miami missed a kick, while Bradley Pinion simply dropped a punt, giving the 49ers excellent field position and adding to an already ugly afternoon.

Simply put, it was a disaster for the Dolphins in San Francisco. The injuries and youth on this roster were always going to make this season difficult, but Miami needed to show progress and compete. Instead, Sunday exposed just how far this team still has to go.

Las Vegas, NV- The Miami Dolphins traveled to Las Vegas to begin the 2026/2027 NFL season. The Dolphins’ roster looked much different than the team a year ago from top to bottom. And although there was plenty of change, there was no change to the Week 1 result for the Dolphins as they fell to the Raiders.

The Dolphins opened up with the ball and put together a solid drive before it stalled and ended in a punt. The Raiders’ ensuing drive was dominant and set the tone for the entire afternoon. The eight-play, 93-yard drive came easy for Kirk Cousins and the Raiders, while Ashton Jeanty showed the Dolphins the type of day it was going to be.

The rest of the first half saw the Dolphins give up a field goal and another touchdown, while they added two field goals of their own. Malik Willis and Caleb Douglas were able to form a strong connection in the first half that carried over into the second.

The second half started extremely well for the Dolphins as rookie Michael Taafe recorded an interception, and the Dolphins offense capped it off with a touchdown. A 15-yard run from Malik Willis put the Dolphins within four points. That’s as close as they would get, however, as the Raiders easily marched down the field for another touchdown, Jeanty’s second of the game. Willis then threw his first interception in a Dolphins uniform, leading to three more Raiders points.

Miami had multiple opportunities the rest of the way, but ultimately lost  27-13.

Observations

• The Dolphins defense must improve. The Raiders were able to do whatever they pleased against the Dolphins both through the air and on the ground. Although it is only Week 1, there is no telling what some of the better offenses in the NFL will do against this Dolphins defense.
• Zero pass rush, easy completions, and wide-open rushing lanes. Miami struggled to generate pressure and consistently gave the Raiders easy opportunities through the air while leaving plenty of room for Jeanty and the Raiders’ rushing attack.
• Special teams struggles. A missed field goal and multiple long kick returns consistently put the Raiders in plus territory, giving their offense favorable field position throughout the afternoon.
• Tough debut for Chris Johnson. The Dolphins first round pick was on the wrong end of two touchdowns and had some missed tackles.
• Caleb Douglas shines bright. Douglas was the Dolphins’ best player on offense and put on a show in his first NFL contest. Miami’s receivers have a lot to prove this season, and Douglas is off to a strong start.
• Michael Taafe, Zayne Anderson, and Chris Rodriguez shine on defense. The trio provided some of the brighter moments for a Dolphins defense that otherwise struggled throughout the game.
• Dolphins offensive line struggles. Miami struggled to create running lanes and allowed numerous sacks, making life difficult for Willis throughout the afternoon.
• Willis has a below-average debut. Willis showed some flashes, particularly with his legs and his connection with Douglas, but the interception and overall struggles of the offense made for a difficult first game in a Dolphins uniform.

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We’ve seen it all in December.

We saw a 9-2 team, surging and blessed after Leon Lett’s unforgettable Thanksgiving faux pas, drop its next five, giving up 45 in one and 47 in another, and losing in overtime in the clincher.

That was 1993.

We saw a 9-5 team, finally stabilized after the return of Jay Fiedler, fall apart in Minnesota (Cris Carter doesn’t catch a touchdown) and New England (when they stopped running Ricky Williams).

That was 2002.

We’ve seen too many other collapses to count.

So will this be another, following an inexplicable 28-27 home defeat against the Tennessee Titans, a 14-point underdog that made several seemingly game-sealing mistakes prior to the Dolphins’ meltdown? Will we remember this fourth loss of an otherwise entertaining and at times exceptional season, to be the beginning of another untimely end?

Will we all jump off the nearest precipice?

Tua Tagovailoa tried to reassure scarred, scared Dolphins fans that this time, at last, will be different.

“I don’t think this is the same Dolphins team that everyone thinks about,” said Tagovailoa, who played below his season standards against Tennessee. “We’ve got really good players, we’ve got really good coaches, and it’s one loss (at) home this year. It’s not like the world ends because we lost this game. We’re human, we’ll continue to get better from this. This is the NFL. No one’s perfect. So that’s that.”

But Dolphins fans are human too.

They can remember.

And that’s why they’re all spasming in fear at the thought of another massive meltdown.

Here are 5 things that need to change, for these not to be the Same Old Dolphins:

1. Mike McDaniel needs to stop getting so cute. The former 49ers run-game coordinator, who has worked wonders on the Dolphins’ rushing attack with almost interchangeable running backs and offensive linemen, is absurdly reluctant to run inside the red zone. When he finally did it, with the Dolphins on short fields following Titans miscues, Raheem Mostert had no trouble finding the end zone. We understand tendencies play a part in the trickery, but this team can do the Old School football thing. No need to be a genius there. McDaniel said after that he understands “I deserve to be second-guessed.” But this isn’t just the second or third or even fourth time.

2. Figure out the center-quarterback exchange. This is the most fundamental act in football, yet it’s been an issue all season. It was with Connor Williams, who is adept at everything else and now may be lost for the season with a knee injury. And it’s certainly been with fill-in Liam Eichenberg. Tagovailoa took responsibility for a drive-killing fumble, yet another in the red zone. But he also said it’s because he doesn’t work with Eichenberg much. This week he will. Get it fixed.

3. Stop feeling yourselves. We love the personality of this team, after more than a quarter-century of dull Dolphins atmospheres. We love Hard Knocks. We love the collective swagger and the creative celebrations. But as our Chris Kouffman of Three Yards Per Carry pointed out, the Dolphins have played their two worst games after arguably their two best games. They appear to handle adversity better than prosperity. Well, they have some now.

4. Get whole. Well, some of this is beyond their control. But it also seems like there’s some load management at work, and it’s too late for that now. Could Jevon Holland and Terron Armstead have played through nagging injuries? Perhaps. Would it have helped? Likely, especially more offensive linemen (Connor Williams) and defensive backs (De’Shon Elliot) started falling. Now Tyreek Hill has tweaked his ankle, somewhat significantly (he said he thought his ankle was “gone” when he did, and that his wife told him to “get the hell back in the game”). If he misses the game with the Jets, it would be nice to have some reinforcements return.

5. Get healed (emotionally). They can’t let this linger. So they might want to stay off social media, which is likely to be particularly lovely this week. McDaniel said players were looking inward, without pointing fingers. If they start the latter, with four challenging opponents upcoming (even the Jets will test them), we can start pointing back to past flameouts, and start pointing to an early, ignominious exit.