Outmatched Dolphins Lose Fifth Straight Game

Outmatched Dolphins Lose Fifth Straight Game

A few takeaways from the Dolphins’ fifth loss of the 2026 season:

1) The Dolphins’ quarterback play remains a huge question.

Willis is making poor decisions and is inaccurate.

And throwing the ball to the opponent more frequently than to his own players.

Willis locks onto well-covered receivers and ignores wide-open ones.

His performance through five games so far does not bode well for the Dolphins’ future at quarterback.

Willis also tends to be reckless, throwing deep passes at receivers who aren’t open, with the ball nowhere near them.

On the positive side, Willis does make plays off script and makes much better decisions as the game wore on.

2) Running back number one is obviously Ollie Gordon II

Even with Jalen Wright making some good plays, Ollie Gordon II has shown the speed, size, and strength to be the clear number one running back on the depth chart.

3) The Dolphins showed they are a run-first team

With the Dolphins’ passing game clearly in need of improvement, the Dolphins must rely heavily on the run.

Passing should be option number two and called only on play-action passes.

4) The defense must find a way to pressure the quarterback

Joe Burrow had all day to scope the entire field and pick and choose his receivers.

The Dolphins have no foreseeable way to win games without rushing the quarterback.

The only sack came in the fourth quarter and was negated because Chop Robinson was offsides.

5) The Bengals’ receivers easily outmatched the Dolphins’ secondary

Ja’Marr Chase and, to a lesser extent, Tee Higgins torched the Dolphins’ defensive backs all day.

A huge contributing factor was Miami’s complete lack of pressure on Joe Burrow.

6) Too many missed tackles

The Miami defense missed many tackles that didn’t wrap up, letting the Bengals gain too many yards after the catch.

Can anyone else tackle other than Jacob Rodriguez?

7) The Dolphins continue to fight until the end

You must give credit to Coach Jeff Hafley, as he inspires the Dolphins to keep putting in effort.

Effort and the never-give-up attitude will be the obvious measuring stick for the 2026 season.