Time for New Specialists, Suggestions for Offense

That the Miami Dolphins lost against the Detroit Lions to fall to 1-7 in this rebuilding season wasn’t a surprise at all, but how it came about? That was a different story.

Be honest, how many figured the uneven Dolphins defense would be able to stymie for most of the game the vaunted Detroit offense and hold it to only one touchdown? No, if the Dolphins were going to win this game, they would have to outscore the Lions, with the thought that maybe they could do some damage against what statistically is a mediocre Detroit defense.

Well, the defense did its part only to watch the offense come up woefully short.

It was a brutal game all around for the offense, lowlighted by a whole bunch of penalties, a lot of pressure on Malik Willis, a really poor decision by Willis himself that produced a bad interception, other misfires, a couple of dropped passes, the whole sordid affair punctuated by rookie Caleb Douglas dropping a fourth-and-12 pass that should have been good for the first down.

There are so many things to pick apart offensively, though a lot of the fingers will be pointed at Willis because he’s the quarterback and, in a best-case scenario, the quarterback of the future for this franchise.

It was difficult to make the case for Willis after this performance, though it must be repeated that he’s operating at a major disadvantage with a really poor supporting cast.

It also didn’t help that Willis clearly looked hampered by the groin injury that’s had him on the injury report the past two weeks. Then again, if Willis can’t scramble, it takes away what should be one of the best parts of his game, and if Willis isn’t going be operating at full capacity, head coach Jeff Hafley has go to start thinking about using first-year quarterback Kyle McCord until Willis is right physically.

And for those Dolphins fans who keep calling for McCord, we would warn everyone to be careful what they wish for because McCord is going to be hamstrung by the same issues that surround Willis.

One other suggestion on offense is to be more aggressive, particularly near or in the red zone where we really don’t need to see run on first and second down when the running game is struggling.

We also would suggest being more bold in a situation like when the Dolphins were down 9-3 in the third quarter and facing a fourth-and-6 from the Detroit 34-yard line. Settling for a 52-yard field goal attempt that still leaves you trailing even if successful isn’t the way to go from this vantage point.

OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SPECIAL TEAMS

— We do have to give the Dolphins props for a daring move when they had Bradley Pinion throw a pass out of punt formation, which produced their longest play of the game after it was completed to Kaytron Allen. Incidentally, that was the team’s first completion by a punter since 2019 when Matt Haack threw a touchdown pass to kicker Jason Sanders in the famous “Mountaineer Shot” play.

— That was one highlight for the special teams, which otherwise were brutal again. The Dolphins had a Pinion kickoff fall short of the landing zone, Pinion had a 25-yard punt, Zane Gonzalez missed a chip-shot field goal at the end of the first half, a fake punt allowed, and maybe we forgot something. This is a season for evaluation and trying to find hidden gems for 2026 and beyond, and it says Pinion and Gonzalez just aren’t it, and it’s time for the Dolphins to look for new kicking specialists.

— The loss, though, was more on the offense than the kicking game.

— The offensive line remains a work in progress, and this was a rough game against the Detroit pass rush and it wasn’t just Aidan Hutchinson who did damage for the Lions. As has been the case most of the season, it was the right side that struggled and that’s Jonah Savaiinaea and Austin Jackson. And Aaron Brewer also didn’t have a great game, as he’s having a hard time following up on his remarkable 2025 season.

— This is very disappointing because the hope was the offensive line was going to make this offense run, but it’s just not happening.

— The running game again was sluggish, and there’s only so much Ollie Gordon II can do without beter blocking up front.

THOUGHTS ON THE DEFENSE

— That Dolphins pass rush in the first half was nothing short of dominant, easily the best we’ve seen all season.

— There were standouts everywhere in that part of the game, particularly Josh Uche, Chop Robinson and Zach Robinson. Shoot, even Zeek Biggers got involved with the pass rush.

— The pass rush slowed down a bit in the second half, but that had to be expected and nobody should complain about the performance of the defense in the least.

— Great to see Chris Johnson come up with his first NFL interception the week after he made headlines and highlights for the wrong answer with his missed sack against Drake Maye. That it was an easy pick after Uche hit Jared Goff’s arm made no difference. Johnson has been solid as a rookie, much better than his stats might suggest.

— Really, there was very little not to like about the defensive performance, which had to overcome a pretty bogus DPI call against Jason Marshall Jr. against Amon-Ra St. Brown.

— The big number here is the Dolphins holding Detroit to 270 yards, by far their lowest total of the season. The previous low was 355 in Week 2 against Buffalo.

— This unequivocally was a winning performance by the Dolphins defense; it’s just too bad the offense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain.