Day of Field Goals; Loss #4 for Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins’ defense finally stood tall, keeping the paint of their end zone clean and untouched by the Minnesota Vikings. But the Vikings’ defense did nearly the same, keeping their grass clean, sans one touchdown, in a game that saw six total field goals and added loss number four to the Dolphins’ 2026 season, 15-10.

A lackluster first half saw a paltry offensive effort by both teams but a great second half, seven-play, 60-yard-opening drive by Miami that included a breakout 53-yard run by Ollie Gordon II fizzled out at the Minnesota nine-yard line and settled for a 27-yard Riley Patterson field goal. The offense perked up with a four-play, 55-yard drive capped by a 12 yard Ollie Gordon II TD run to cut the lead to 12-10 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter scoring was only a Viking field goal though they sat on the ball at the one yard line at the end of the game to run out the clock.

Stats

The Dolphins picked up only eight first downs while the Vikings gathered 20. Miami had only 198 yards of offense – 77 passing and 121 rushing. Minnesota had 336 – 213 passing and 123 rushing. The Dolphin offense was limited to only 37 offensive plays on the day

Ollie Gordon II put his claim on RB1 with nine carries for 100 yards – the first 100-yard game on the season. Malik Willis was 9-of-17 for only 85 yards, was sacked twice and lost a fumble.

Defense Did Their Job

From the first snap, the defense did their job, bending but not breaking and keeping the Vikings out of the end zone all day. Jacob Rodriguez led the team with 18 total tackles – breaking a rookie tackle record set by Zack Thomas – followed by Jordyn Brooks with 13. Zach Sieler picked up two sacks while Josh Uche and Chop Robinson each added another to give the previously sackless Dolphins four for the game.

Special Teams

Riley Patterson hit his one field goal and Bradley Pinion was kept busy with six punts on the day for 275 yards for a 45.8 yard average and he had one long punt for 53 yards.

Post Game Quotes

Quarterback Malik Willis noted, “We obviously are a young team, and that’s not an excuse. More than anything, it’s a challenge, and we just have to keep going. We can get the ball moving, but to keep it moving, we have to play clean football. And to help our defense, who played a great game, it would help if we could keep the ball moving. So I think we just have to continue to learn and get better, and continue to grow as a unit.”

Coach Jeff Hafley noted, “We knew it was gonna be a defensive battle, how I described it. I thought our guys fought their butts off. I thought they were competitive. I thought they were physical. I thought they were tough. Maybe one more stop, one more play on offense.”

The Dolphins (0-4) now prepare for Week 5 opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2), who come to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, October 11, for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.