The Miami Dolphins walked out of their Week 9 loss to the Detroit Lions at 1-7 with a strange split-screen result: the defense showed up, and the offense mostly didn’t.
That part wasn’t the shock. The surprise was how well the Dolphins defense handled Detroit for long stretches, limiting the Lions to one touchdown and keeping the game within reach.
If Miami was going to steal this one, it had to come from the offense doing enough against a Detroit defense that has been mediocre by the numbers. Instead, the Dolphins got a rough night on that side of the ball and never found a rhythm.
It was a mess from the start and only got worse. Penalties piled up, Malik Willis dealt with constant pressure, and Willis also made a bad decision that turned into an interception. There were other misses, a couple of drops, and the whole thing ended with rookie Caleb Douglas dropping a fourth-and-12 pass that should have moved the chains.
Willis is going to take most of the heat, and that comes with the job. He’s the quarterback, and in the best-case scenario, he’s the quarterback of the future here.
But this game made that case hard to sell, even if he’s working with a poor supporting cast. It also didn’t help that he looked limited by the groin injury that’s kept him on the injury report for the past two weeks.
If Willis can’t use his legs, a big part of what makes him dangerous disappears. And if he’s not physically right, head coach Jeff Hafley has to start considering first-year quarterback Kyle McCord.
At the same time, Dolphins fans pushing for McCord should be careful what they wish for. He’d be stepping into the same mess around him.
Miami also needs to get more aggressive on offense, especially near the red zone. There’s no reason to keep seeing run plays on first and second down when the ground game isn’t working.
The same goes for the fourth-and-6 from the Detroit 34-yard line in the third quarter, when the Dolphins trailed 9-3 and settled for a 52-yard field goal attempt. Even if that kick goes in, you’re still behind.
That’s not the move.
There was at least one creative spark. Bradley Pinion threw a pass out of punt formation to Kaytron Allen, and it turned into the Dolphins’ longest play of the game. It was also the team’s first completion by a punter since 2019, when Matt Haack hit Jason Sanders for a touchdown on the famous “Mountaineer Shot” play.
That was about the only special teams bright spot. Otherwise, it was another ugly outing.
Pinion had a kickoff fall short of the landing zone, he also had a 25-yard punt, Zane Gonzalez missed a chip-shot field goal before halftime, and a fake punt was allowed. In a season built around evaluation and finding pieces for 2026 and beyond, the message is pretty clear: Pinion and Gonzalez aren’t the answer, and it’s time to look for new kicking specialists.
Still, the loss belonged more to the offense than the kicking game.
The offensive line had another rough night against Detroit’s pass rush, and it wasn’t just Aidan Hutchinson causing problems. The right side, as it has most of the season, struggled with Jonah Savaiinaea and Austin Jackson both having issues. Aaron Brewer also had a difficult game after his strong 2025 season, and that’s a disappointing development for a unit that was supposed to help drive the offense.
Instead, the line remains a work in progress, and the running game stayed stuck in neutral. Ollie Gordon II could only do so much without better blocking in front of him.
If the offense was a letdown, the defense was the opposite. Miami’s pass rush in the first half was the best it has looked all season.
Josh Uche, Chop Robinson and Zach Robinson all stood out, and even Zeek Biggers got in on the action. The pressure eased some after halftime, but the overall performance never really slipped.
Chris Johnson also came through with his first NFL interception, one week after his missed sack against Drake Maye drew the wrong kind of attention. The pick came after Uche hit Jared Goff’s arm, but Johnson still finished the play. He’s been a solid rookie, even if the stat sheet doesn’t fully show it.
There wasn’t much to complain about on that side, aside from a questionable DPI call on Jason Marshall Jr. against Amon-Ra St. Brown. The biggest number from the day says plenty: Detroit was held to 270 yards, its lowest total of the season and well below the previous low of 355 against Buffalo in Week 2.
By the end, this was a winning performance from the Dolphins defense. The offense simply didn’t come close to matching it.
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