The Miami Dolphins left Sunday with another loss, but this one came with a different feel. Against the Minnesota Vikings in NFL Week 4, the game was messy, choppy, and loaded with flags, yet it never turned into the kind of one-sided beating Miami has dealt with before.
The Dolphins were in it late. They just couldn’t finish.
That was the story in the fourth quarter, when Miami had a real chance to grab its first lead of the season. Instead, the offense went three-and-out, and Minnesota took the ball back and squeezed out the final 5:41. The Dolphins fall to 0-4, but this team is at least showing it can hang around, fight, and make an opponent work.
There were a couple of clear bright spots. Zach Sieler set the tone immediately, giving Miami its first sack of the year on the opening snap and then adding another before halftime.
Josh Uche got to quarterback Kyler Murray in the second quarter, and Chop Robinson joined the rush in the third to help force a Vikings punt. For a defense that had been waiting all season to get home, Sunday finally brought some answers.
Ollie Gordon also stepped into a bigger role after De’Von Achane’s ACL tear and made the most of it. He carried the offense with 100 rushing yards and a touchdown on just nine carries.
But the ugly parts were hard to miss, especially on special teams. Minnesota opened with a 47-yard kickoff return.
Miami then muffed a punt return, though it was recovered in the endzone for a touchback after a penalty was enforced. On the next Dolphins punt, the Vikings ripped off a 36-yard return that led to a field goal.
Then Miami got hit with an illegal formation penalty on the kickoff when it couldn’t field the ball cleanly.
The flags kept flying from there. The game finished with 20 enforced penalties - nine on Miami and 11 on Minnesota - for 140 yards. It was the kind of stop-start slog that made it tough for either side to settle in.
Austin Jackson had a rough afternoon at right tackle, especially against speed rushers. He was repeatedly pushed backward, and too often he bit on the first move before struggling to recover when the rusher countered back inside or the other way. Right now, he looks like a problem spot for Miami.
The Dolphins also ran into the same old issue covering tight ends. T.J.
Hockenson was a constant headache, catching 13 passes for 119 yards. He even slid down at the one-yard line in the fourth quarter rather than score, so Minnesota could kneel out the clock.
Miami had no answer for him, no matter who lined up against him.
Even with the loss, there was something different about the way Miami played. This wasn’t a team getting pushed around.
It was a team scrapping, absorbing mistakes, and still staying in the fight. That doesn’t erase the 0-4 start, but it does show a group that is growing, gaining experience, and moving closer to a breakthrough.
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Dolphins Rebuild Already Looks Shakier Than Fans Feared
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De'Von Achanes season-ending injury is the kind of setback that changes the feel of a year, especially for a team that needed stability more than anything else. Add in a matchup with the Vikings, another winless start, and the questions around how quickly this group can find traction start to get louder, even if the answers are still weeks away. [Read more 🡒]