The Miami Dolphins are finally off the winless list, and they did it by controlling the game from the start and then surviving the usual late squeeze.
Miami beat the New York Jets 28-25 on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, its first victory of the season and the first career win for head coach Jeff Hafley. The Dolphins had spent the first six games never leading at any point; this time, they never trailed.
The opening stretch set the tone. Miami turned a 7-7 game into a 21-7 halftime cushion, then leaned on a late defensive stand to hold the Jets off. Chop Robinson finished the biggest sequence of the afternoon in the fourth quarter, helping preserve a lead that had been built early and nearly escaped late.
For Hafley, the setting made it even sweeter. The Meadowlands is 17 miles from his hometown of Montvale, N.J., and his mom, brother and sister were there along with about 30 friends and family members. After six games, he finally got the first win of his NFL head coaching career.
Miami’s breakthrough also left the Los Angeles Chargers (0-6) as the league’s lone winless team. The Chargers were off Sunday.
The biggest offensive spark came from rookie receiver Caleb Douglas, who returned after missing time with an ankle injury and scored his first two career touchdowns. Douglas, a third-round pick from Texas Tech who began his college career at Florida, scored on Miami’s first drive with a 7-yard catch from Malik Willis. He later delivered the go-ahead cushion with 4:44 left, racing for a 63-yard catch-and-run and tiptoeing the sideline around midfield while former Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick tried to shove him out of bounds.
That touchdown pushed Miami ahead 28-17.
Willis was steady throughout, finishing 14 of 21 for 208 yards with two touchdown passes and no turnovers. He opened the game sharply, completing 10 of 13 passes for 128 yards in the first half, and his ball security stood out just as much as the numbers.
Entering the day, he had four interceptions and five fumbles. Against the Jets, Miami didn’t give the ball away once.
The Dolphins also leaned into aggressive fourth-down calls, and every one of them worked. Hafley went 3-for-3 on fourth down, including a 2-yard run by Willis after the two-minute warning that helped close things out. Earlier, Ollie Gordon punched in a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down to give Miami a 14-7 lead, and Willis added a 5-yard scramble on 4th-and-2 from the Jets’ 41 during another scoring drive.
Hafley was upbeat at halftime after Miami had outgained New York 231-114 in the first 30 minutes. “The offense did a great job in every one of their possessions,” Hafley told CBS at halftime.
“Malik is using his legs, he's throwing the ball well. We settled down on defense after we busted that first drive (allowing the Jets to drive down the field and tie the game at 7).
We just got to come out and be consistent and keep doing what we're doing.”
The defense had to come through late, and it did. New York got to the 1-yard line before Miami slammed the door, forcing the Jets from first-and-goal at the 1 to fourth down from the 15.
Zach Sieler and Josh Uche delivered tackles for loss on consecutive plays, and then Robinson brought down Geno Smith for a 12-yard sack. The Jets settled for a field goal, trimming the margin to 21-17.
New York got the ball back, forced Miami to sweat again, and eventually cut the lead to three with a late touchdown and two-point conversion. But the Dolphins held on from there.
The win sends Miami home for a Sunday, Nov. 1 meeting with New England, which is 4-3 after a Thursday night loss at Chicago. For one afternoon, though, the Dolphins had the kind of clean, composed performance they had been chasing all season - and Hafley finally got the first one in the books.
In Other News...
Dolphins May Have Finally Found A Coach Worth Trusting
Jeff Hafleys first season in charge has already given Miami at least one sign that the reset might be moving in the right direction. The Dolphins finally got into the win column with a victory over the Jets, and it came with the kind of early-season context that usually tests a new staff most: a rebuilding roster, plenty of youth, and little room for patience. Even so, the team has looked competitive enough to suggest there is something more sustainable taking shape.
NFL insider Peter Schrager took note of that after the win, framing Hafley as a coach who has Miami headed somewhere better than the usual rebuilding slog. The challenge now is turning one encouraging result into a real stretch of momentum, and the schedule offers another chance soon enough with the Patriots coming to Miami in Week 8. For a team trying to establish trust in a new direction, the next few games will matter just as much as the first win did. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Willis Just Changed The Dolphins Conversation
The Dolphins finally got their first win of the 2026 season in Week 7, edging the Jets 28-25 in a game that did more than just snap the skid. Malik Willis delivered the kind of all-around performance Miami has been searching for, throwing for 208 yards and two touchdowns while also making plays with his legs and finishing with a 130.7 passer rating.
It was the sort of outing that can change the way a quarterback is discussed in a building, especially when it comes with both efficiency and improvisation. Willis also landed among the leagues most productive dual-threat passers this season, and the advanced numbers only added to the appeal, with his day against New York grading out as one of the best performances of the year in terms of expected points added per drop back. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Fans Already Face A Brutal Future Debate
The conversation around Miamis future is already drifting well beyond the next draft, with fans eyeing the 2027 class as a possible answer to the franchises long-running quarterback dilemma. Much of the early speculation has centered on the kind of player who could alter the direction of the roster, and the buzz has quickly turned into a familiar kind of draft debate: whether the Dolphins should chase a quarterback or start thinking about another elite weapon.
One name generating the most heat is Drew Mestemaker, a quarterback who has drawn Josh Allen comparisons and would fit the profile of the kind of swing-for-the-fences prospect fans cant help but discuss this early. Another is Jeremiah Smith, widely viewed as the top wide receiver in the conversation, which only adds to the intrigue as Miami weighs where its biggest need might truly be when that class finally arrives. The wild card, of course, is Arch Manning and what he decides to do next, which leaves the Dolphins long-range outlook feeling both promising and unsettled. [Read more 🡒]