Final NFL 2025 Week 1 Observations...With Dolphins Angles

The Miami Dolphins will face both the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers on their 2025 schedule, and those two teams put on one of the most entertaining shows of Week 1 around the NFL.

And, of course, a couple of players who were on the Dolphins roster as late as this June wound up playing critical roles in the Steelers' 34-32 victory.

The highlight was Jalen Ramsey securing the victory for the Steelers when his hard jarred the ball loose from wide receiver Garrett Wilson on fourth down on the Jets' final drive. That highlight made the rounds, so chances are all Dolphins fans already are familiar with what happened.

But what's more interesting perhaps is that Ramsey opened the game at safety for the Steelers alongside former Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott and with cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay. Ramsey also was used in the slot at times, just like he was with the Dolphins.

As for Smith, he didn't start at tight end for the Steelers, who instead went with blocking specialist Darnell Washington, but he did have the most snaps at the position for Pittsburgh with 37, compared to 28 for Pat Freiermuth and 26 for Washington.

Smith had five catches for a very modest 15 yards in his Steelers debut, though one of them was a 3-yard touchdown on a shovel pass that brought Pittsburgh to within 19-17 late in the first half.

Last thing with the Steelers, Elliott left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter and eventually was ruled out early in the second half. While the injury didn't look good, Jordan Schultz reported the injury was an MCL sprain and Elliott — who has criticized the Dolphins more than once since leaving the team — likely would miss a couple of weeks.

POSITIVE SIGNS FOR JETS

The Jets had reason to be disappointed after losing not only on Wilson's drop, but also because Steelers kicker nailed a 60-yard field goal with 1:03 left, yet they also had some good reason to feel positive after the game.

The Jets, who will come to Hard Rock Stadium in Week 4, racked up almost 400 yards of offense against what traditionally is a very good Pittsburgh defense and new QB Justin Fields overall looked very impressive.

Fields was 16-for-22 for 218 yards with a touchdown and no pick for a 119.1 passer rating, while adding 48 rushing yards to the team's total of 182.

This was a game the Jets easily could have and maybe should have won, and the difference was their defense not being able to keep Pittsburgh out of the end zone on any of their three attempts — and, of course, a 60-yard field goal.

Overall, though, this was a positive debut under head coach Aaron Glenn — as positive as it can get in a loss.

NO RAIDERS DEBUT FOR MOSTERT

The Dolphins' Week 2 opponents, the New England Patriots, went down against the Las Vegas Raiders, 20-13, at Gillette Stadium in what was a pretty rough outing for their offense.

The Raiders won that game behind Geno Smith's 300-yard passing performance, but with little help from rookie running back Ashton Jeanty and no help at all from former Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert.

Mostert, who the Dolphins released in February after three seasons with the team, was a healthy scratch, inactive after not showing up on the injury report all week.

Mostert is listed as the second-team running back along with Zamir White, but it was second-year player Dylan Laube who was the third running back active against New England because of his special teams work.

KEEPING TABS ON OLD TIGHT ENDS

-- The player the Dolphins traded to the L.A. Rams to get Ramsey back in 2023 is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and tight end Hunter Long was used mostly on special teams in Week 1. He did have one catch in Jacksonville's 26-10 victory and it was good for his team's first touchdown of the 2025 season.

-- Another former Dolphins tight end, Durham Smythe, also played mostly special teams in his own debut with his new team, the Chicago Bears. Smythe got only seven snaps on offense against 19 on special teams in the Bears' 27-24 loss against the Minnesota Vikings.

-- Meanwhile in Cincinnati, Mike Gesicki played his first game since the Bengals gave him a contract extension in the offseason, but he played a very limited role in the 17-16 victory against the Cleveland Browns. Gesicki played only 16 of the team's 52 snaps, coming in third among the Bengals tight ends behind Drew Sample (36 snaps) and summer pick-up Noah Fant (26).

THE MIAMI DOLPHINS ON SI POWER RANKINGS

How we ranked the 32 NFL teams (because everybody is doing it) based on record, quality of wins, and talent.

1. Buffalo Bills (1-0)

2. Baltimore Ravens (0-1)

3. Green Bay Packers (1-0)

4. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)

5. Los Angeles Chargers (1-0)

6. Kansas City Chiefs (0-1)

7. Los Angeles Rams (1-0)

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)

9. Washington Commanders (1-0)

10. Minnesota Vikings (1-0)

11. Detroit Lions (0-1)

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

13. Cincinnati Bengals (1-0)

14. Indianapolis Colts (1-0)

15. San Francisco 49ers (1-0)

16. Houston Texans (0-1)

17. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0)

18. Denver Broncos (1-0)

19. Las Vegas Raiders (1-0)

20. Arizona Cardinals (1-0)

21. Atlanta Falcons (0-1)

22. New York Jets (0-1)

23. Seattle Seahawks (0-1)

24. Dallas Cowboys (0-1)

25. Cleveland Browns (0-1)

26. Chicago Bears (0-1)

27. New England Patriots (0-1)

28. Miami Dolphins (0-1)

29. New York Giants (0-1)

30. Tennessee Titans (0-1)

31. New Orleans Saints (0-1)

32. Carolina Panthers (0-1)

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