The Miami Dolphins finally found something they had not had all season: a lead.
It took until Week 7, but Miami jumped out in the first quarter against the New York Jets and briefly put itself in front for the first time this season. The Dolphins were also off to a rare fast start, scoring touchdowns on their first two drives.
“A truly embarrassing start to the game for the Jets defense. Were not prepared for the Dolphins offense at all.
No pressure up front. Wide open tight end leading to a big play,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The lead did not last long, though. The Jets answered on their next possession and wiped it out right away.
Miami, to its credit, responded again and reclaimed the lead, which marked another first for a team still chasing its first victory of the year.
“Dolphins: score TD on each of their first 2 drives of a game for 1st time since Week 14, 2025. Also at the Jets,” ESPN's Rich Cimini wrote on X.
That kind of start is exactly what the Dolphins needed after a rough opening stretch to the season. Malik Willis said after the team’s last loss to the Cincinnati Bengals that the answer was to strip things back and sort out what was working.
“We've just got to go back to the drawing board,” Willis said via the Associated Press. “Watch these last few games, compare it to practice, understand what we’re good at, what we’re not good at, understand what guys are comfortable with and what they’re not comfortable with, and then just try to go and execute the next opportunity we can get.”
For now, it looks like Miami took that message to heart. At least early against the Jets, the Dolphins were playing better football.
In Other News...
Dolphins Need More From A Few Struggling Starters Against The Jets
The Dolphins are heading into their first divisional test of the 2026 season with a familiar kind of urgency, the kind that tends to surface when a handful of starters need cleaner work before the margin gets any thinner. Against the Jets, Miami will be watching the trenches closely, with Austin Jackson carrying a heavy load on the right side and Chris Johnson and Chop Robinson also under the microscope as the Dolphins look to limit the kind of errors that can quickly tilt a division game.
Malik Willis adds another layer to that equation, because Miami needs steadier play from the quarterback spot to keep the offense on schedule against a defense that can make life difficult. The Jets arrive with one of the leagues best pass defenses, so the Dolphins do not have much room for the sloppy stretches that have shown up before. For Miami, the challenge is simple enough to say and hard enough to solve: get more from the players who have been up and down, and do it quickly enough to avoid letting an early divisional game get away. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Face One Trade Deadline Test They May Not Budge On
With the trade deadline approaching, the Dolphins are shaping up as sellers, but one name appears to be off the table for now. ESPN reporters Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport said Miami is expected to listen on some pieces, yet the team views its young edge rush group as part of the future, not a short-term source of help for someone else.
Chop Robinson is the clearest example of that stance. A 2024 first-round pick with multiple years of contract control remaining, he should draw interest from teams looking for pass-rush help, but Miami does not currently plan to move him this season. For a club weighing its deadline options, that kind of line in the sand says plenty about which players it believes still fit into the long view. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Face A Jets Backfield Twist Right Before Kickoff
The Jets are still waiting on Breece Hall, who has not played since Week 3 because of a quadriceps injury and is now unlikely to suit up against the Dolphins in Week 7. There is still a chance he tests the leg in a pregame workout, but for Miami, the more immediate concern is the shape of New Yorks backfield if Hall is unavailable.
Braelon Allen has handled the lead role in Halls absence and is expected to get the start against a Dolphins defense that has shown vulnerability against running backs. If Hall cannot go, Allen would be the one carrying the load again, giving New York a familiar setup right before kickoff and leaving Miami to prepare for a backfield built around a runner who has already taken on a heavier workload. [Read more 🡒]