The Miami Dolphins left Sunday’s meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals still searching for their first win, and the latest setback had a little bit of everything: a promising showing from Ollie Gordon II, another rough day for special teams, and a turnover-filled outing from Malik Willis that kept Miami buried in a 31-24 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.
For a team that is now 0-5, the margin for error is tiny. Miami got some life from its running game and even flashed enough late to make the final score look closer than the game felt for long stretches, but the same issues kept surfacing. The Dolphins gave away field position, missed chances on special teams, and spent too much of the afternoon chasing the game after Cincinnati jumped ahead early.
The most encouraging piece for Miami came from Gordon, who continues to take advantage of his expanded role after De’Von Achane’s season-ending knee injury. Gordon carried the ball 18 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, averaging 4.9 yards per attempt while showing the kind of power and patience the Dolphins can build around.
He got Miami on the board first with a one-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter, finishing off the Dolphins’ first drive and briefly giving the home crowd a reason to think the offense might settle in. More than that, Gordon looked like a back who understood what the moment asked of him - run hard, stay patient, and squeeze every yard out of the touches he gets. For a team that badly needs offensive identity, he’s making a strong case that the ground game can still matter.
But the Dolphins shot themselves in the foot from the start on special teams. Cincinnati ripped off an 81-yard return on the opening kickoff, instantly flipping the field and setting up a short Bengals drive that ended in a touchdown pass after just three plays. Miami barely had time to get settled before it was already in a hole, and that’s been part of the problem all season: no stability, no hidden yardage, no help from a unit that should be making life easier, not harder.
The issues didn’t stop there. Riley Patterson missed an extra point after Kevin Coleman Jr.’s fourth-quarter receiving touchdown, another small but costly blemish on a day already loaded with them. Miami also failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, and at that point the damage was done.
The biggest issue, though, belonged to Willis. His stat line - 15 completions on 27 attempts for 136 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions - only tells part of the story.
He also lost a fumble, giving him three turnovers on the day. His late rushing touchdown added a little shine, but it didn’t come close to erasing what came before.
Willis spent too much time chasing big plays instead of taking what the defense offered, and the result was a mess of stalled drives and wasted chances. Miami needed clean quarterback play just to stay within range. Instead, Willis kept putting the Dolphins in bad spots, and Cincinnati took advantage while building a 21-7 lead in the first half.
To his credit, Willis did show the athleticism that makes him intriguing. He ripped off a 39-yard scramble late in the game and finished with six carries for 63 rushing yards.
Those flashes matter, especially on a roster with a young supporting cast that has plenty of its own growing pains. But turnovers are unforgiving, and three of them in one game is the kind of performance that can bury any team, especially one already trying to climb out of an 0-5 start.
Miami heads into a much-needed bye week with plenty to sort out across the board. After the break, the Dolphins will try to get back on track against the New York Jets.
In Other News...
Dolphins Rookies Are Forcing An Early Rebuild Debate
The first wave of rookie contributions around the league is starting to tell a bigger story, and Miami sits right at the center of it. Among the seven teams with multiple first-round picks in the 2026 draft, the Dolphins have leaned on their rookies more than anyone else so far, with young players already factoring into the weekly workload across the roster as the front office tries to balance immediate competitiveness with a longer-term reset.
For Miami, that kind of usage is more than a counting stat. It speaks to how quickly the rookie class has been pushed into real roles, from offensive line spots to other key rotational jobs, and it also raises the question of whether this is simply a development year in disguise. The snap totals suggest the Dolphins are getting a close look at their future now, even if the broader shape of that future is still taking form. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Fans Know Exactly What Atlanta May Be Walking Into
Tua Tagovailoas latest outing offered a little of the familiar from his days in Miami, the kind of performance that can swing from promising to problematic in a hurry. In overtime against Baltimore, he moved the Falcons with a first-down completion before the sequence turned sharply the other way, a reminder that his game still comes with stretches of sharp rhythm and sudden danger.
For Dolphins fans, the larger takeaway is less about one snap than the possibility of seeing an old storyline in a new uniform. Atlanta is still sorting out its quarterback situation, and if Michael Penix Jr. is unavailable in Week 6, Tagovailoa could be the one asked to lead the offense. It would put a familiar face back in the spotlight, with the same questions Miami supporters know all too well about how long the good stretches can last. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Practice Squad Shuffle Says Plenty About One Fading Gamble
The Dolphins made another small but telling adjustment to the bottom of their roster, bringing quarterback Brady Cook back onto the practice squad as they continue to sort through a depth chart that has been in motion for weeks. Cook had already been waived to clear a spot when defensive tackle Kenneth Grant was activated off injured reserve, and his return keeps Miamis developmental quarterback pool intact for the moment.
The corresponding move sent running back Jarquez Hunter out the door, ending a stint that never really got traction after Miami acquired him in a summer trade. Hunter did not get on the field for the Dolphins, and the decision to release him came after the team claimed rookie running back Kaytron Allen off waivers, another sign that Miami is still hunting for the right fit behind its top backs. [Read more 🡒]