Miami’s first game told a pretty clear story: the Dolphins said they wanted to be a physical, run-first team, then barely got the ground game rolling in a 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
De’Von Achane handled the ball 15 times in that opener, but only 11 of those were rushing attempts, and he finished with 36 yards. As a team, Miami ran it 18 times, with quarterback Malik Willis accounting for six of those carries. That wasn’t the shape of the offense anyone expected, and it didn’t look much like the identity head coach Jeff Hafley has talked up.
Still, Hafley isn’t backing off. Miami Herald writer Omar Kelly reported Thursday that the Dolphins coach remains committed to getting the run game going, and Hafley said as much on Wednesday before a west coast-based practice in Napa Valley.
“We’ve played one game. I want to run the football,” Hafley said moments before holding a west coast-based practice in Napa Valley.
“We have to run the football! That’s all there is to it.”
That belief lines up with what Hafley did at Boston College, where he coached from 2020 to 2023. His Eagles averaged 36 carries per game and 166 rushing yards per contest over that span. In his final season there, Boston College averaged 198.8 rushing yards per game on 42.1 carries per game.
The challenge now is turning that philosophy into production against a much tougher opponent. Miami heads to Levi’s Stadium on Sunday for a Week 2 meeting with the San Francisco 49ers, a 4:25 p.m.
Fox kickoff in a game that closes out the Dolphins’ West Coast back-to-back. The matchup is drawing plenty of attention, and one of the biggest questions is whether the Dolphins can get the rushing attack back on track.
Chris Perkins framed it plainly: the run game is the priority when the rebuilding Dolphins visit the Super Bowl-hopeful 49ers. And the stakes on Miami’s side aren’t just about balance; they’re about giving Malik Willis a cleaner afternoon after he spent too much of his debut under pressure.
Willis came out of the Raiders game knowing there was work to do. As he studied the film, he identified areas where he could have been better, including cutting down on sacks heading into Game 2.
There’s also a notable matchup in the backfield. De’Von Achane said he admires 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, and the two will be on the same NFL field in Santa Clara this weekend.
One more issue hangs over Miami heading into Sunday: Chop Robinson. The edge defender was held out of Thursday’s practice because of a concussion, leaving the Dolphins thin on the edge and potentially without one of their starting pass rushers for the Sept. 20 game against San Francisco.
The Dolphins are already looking for answers, and without Robinson, those answers get more complicated fast.
In Other News...
Dolphins Draft Outlook Got Real Ugly After Just One Game
A rough opening weekend has already pushed the Dolphins into an unexpected spot in the early draft conversation. After their loss to the Raiders, ESPNs Football Power Index now gives Miami the highest chance of landing a top-10 pick in next springs draft, a jarring development for a team that entered the season with much different expectations. The projections are bleak enough to make the conversation feel less like a slow-burn concern and more like an immediate reality check.
ESPNs simulations have Miami with a 38% shot at the No. 1 overall pick and an average draft position of 2.9, while the betting market is essentially treating this as a team in danger of finishing with only a handful of wins. The road ahead does little to ease the pressure, with matchups coming against the 49ers, Chiefs, Vikings and Bengals. For a club that still has plenty of football left, the bigger question now is whether the season can stabilize before the draft picture gets even uglier. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Run Defense Is Becoming A Bigger Problem Than Fans Expected
The run defense is starting to look like more than a one-game annoyance for the Dolphins after Las Vegas pushed the ball on the ground for 130 yards in the latest matchup. Ashton Jeanty did most of the damage, and the bigger concern for Miami was how often the Raiders were able to lean on their offensive line and keep the defense on its heels in the trenches.
Defensive coordinator Mike Hafley pointed to early tentative play and a few misalignments, though he did say the group settled in better after halftime. Even with that adjustment, Miami sits 23rd against the run, and the next stretch will go a long way in showing whether this was a bad afternoon or the start of a more stubborn problem. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Face A Week 2 Test They Cant Keep Avoiding
The Dolphins came out of Week 1 looking like a team still trying to find its offensive balance. Against the Raiders, Miami ran the ball only 18 times and never really settled into the kind of rhythm that has made this offense dangerous when it is at its best. For a team built around speed and spacing, the ground game still matters, and getting De'Von Achane going behind a sturdier interior front feels like a necessary step rather than a luxury.
Week 2 offers a clearer chance to clean that up, with San Francisco's interior defensive line coming in banged up and not nearly as imposing as it usually is. Miami's next test is not just about whether the Dolphins can create more efficient rushing lanes, but whether the offensive line can help them avoid another one-dimensional afternoon. The Niners still have pass rushers who can tilt a game, but the more immediate question for Miami is whether this is the week the run game finally gets treated like a real part of the plan. [Read more 🡒]