The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the 2026 Dolphins Opening Loss to the Raiders

Just like so many others, the Miami Dolphins are heading home from Las Vegas as losers, falling to the Raiders 27-13. It’s been well known what the expectations should look like for the Dolphins in 2026, but seeing it on the field solidified it. All three phases of new head coach Jeff Hafley’s squad looked below average at best. So, let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Dolphins’ loss in Las Vegas.

The Good

The Dolphins’ safety tandem of Dante Trader Jr. and rookie Michael Taaffe both recorded interceptions against Kirk Cousins. The defense as a whole looked rough, to say the very least, but those two were able to stand out very nicely. Sticking with the rookies, Caleb Douglas was by far the best player on offense for the Dolphins in this game. The third-round rookie caught five passes for 94 yards and was the only lifeblood in the game for Miami. One of the standout plays from him was on the Dolphins’ final drive of the first half. Douglas shook his defender with a nasty in-cut to put Miami in field goal range right before half, and Riley Patterson was able to take advantage. We heard a lot about the former Red Raider and how dominant a preseason he was having, so it’s nice to see him come out and deliver when the games actually count. He didn’t do a whole lot for the offense, but Jaylen Wright tried to light a spark with a 79-yard kick return with Miami down 14.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the list of good ends is short. New quarterback Malik Willis looked up-and-down for a lot of the game, but when Miami had multiple chances to cut the Raiders' lead to one score, the offense completely shut down. Willis's bad decision-making, followed by awful offensive line play and a non-existent run game even with De’Von Achane, led to 49 total yards and two turnovers after Miami opened the second half with a nice touchdown drive. The penalties were costly as well. Eight penalties were accepted for 61 yards against the Dolphins.

The Ugly

The bad may have been short, but for the ugly, I’m going to get on my soapbox. Last year’s defense was one of the worst that I’ve ever seen watching the Dolphins over the last 24 years. This defense, however, could be so much worse. I don’t think I have ever seen a more one-sided match than what I saw between the Dolphins defensive line and the Raiders offensive line. Kenneth Grant, Zach Sieler, Chop Robinson, and pretty much everyone on the defensive line were washed out of every single play, run or pass. The linebackers weren’t any better, and that’s supposed to be the best unit on the team outside of the running back room. Ashton Jeanty ran for over 100 yards at over four yards a carry, and rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. averaged over six yards a carry. A Raiders’ pass-catching core completely outmatched the Dolphins’ secondary without Brock Bowers, and that’s with the two interceptions thrown by Cousins.

Somehow, that’s not even the worst part of today’s game. The special teams play is completely inexcusable, no matter how you look at it. Raiders’ return man Dylan Laube returned only two kickoffs, but he brought them both right at midfield with returns of 45 and 50 yards. Pair that with Patterson missing a crucial field goal in the third quarter after Wright’s 78-yard kick return, and Chris Tabor’s unit has already established themselves as the worst in the NFL just one week in.

The Consolation Prize

If I could only take away two things from this game, the first would be that there’s no way to fairly evaluate Willis this season with the lack of resources around him, and the Dolphins are going to have a top-three pick. They will battle the Tennessee Titans for the first overall pick. This was supposed to be one of Miami's winnable games, especially with no Bowers in the lineup. Not just losing, but the way they lost gives me zero hope that the Dolphins will win any game the entire season. I do think the level of play will improve as Hafley and his staff see what works and what doesn’t against actual competition. Still, with the gap in talent and execution that I saw between two franchises in very similar situations, I don’t think there’s any game on the schedule that you can look at and confidently say that the Dolphins have a real chance to win this game.