Dolphins Week 4 Instant Takeaways: So Close, Yet So Far

The Miami Dolphins continue to be a tough out, but they still can't get that elusive first win under head coach Jeff Hafley.

In many ways, the Dolphins let one slip away against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, dropping a 15-10 decision that moved their record to 0-4.

The Dolphins gave the undefeated Vikings all they could handle, though in fairness Minnesota is a pretty unimpressive 4-0 team on offense, but again mistakes and missed opportunities made the Dolphins come up short.

And that's the plight of a team overloaded with young and unproven players, though some of the culprits on this day were not rookies but rather young veterans with starting experience.

While running back Ollie Gordon II proved a bright spot with his work in the absence of De'Von Achane, the bottom line is the Dolphins once again failed offensively with a fourth consecutive game with fewer than 14 points.

The defense gave the team a chance to win until the end, but then couldn't get the stop needed to give the offense a final opportunity to pull out a late victory.

THE DEFENSE TURNS UP THE HEAT

-- The Dolphins don't have to hear about not having any sacks on the season anymore and they took care of that issue right from the start, courtesy of Zach Sieler. By the time they were done, the Dolphins had four sacks, two by Sieler and one each for Josh Uche and Chop Robinson.

-- Robinson ended with a game-high three QB hits, including back-to-back pressures in the first half and a sack like we haven't seen from him before where it wasn't about his speed and get-off but rather about pushing back right tackle Brian O'Neill into the lap of Kyler Murray.

-- The legend of Jacob Rodriguez continues to grow, this time with a game-high 18 tackles, which is the highest total in the NFL this season. What was lacking from his game this time was a tackle for loss or an impact third-down play. In other words, his performance was good, but maybe it was overblown a bit if you were to believe the folks at FOX and the gushing they were doing.

-- For all the good work of the defense — and it was a good performance, albeit against a mediocre offense missing its best player (Justin Jefferson) — it failed to deliver in the clutch. Needing the ball to try to come back, the Dolphins defense gave up four first downs on each of Minnesota's final drives, the first of which ended in the field goal and the second ending with kneel-downs to end the game.

-- Meanwhile, the Dolphins went three-and-out the only time they had the ball in the fourth quarter, which led to a time of possession advantage for the Vikings in that fourth quarter of 14:00 to 1:00.

-- Covering quality tight ends is not easy for any defense, but the Dolphins must do better than letting T.J. Hockenson completely own the game down the stretch, including the game-sealing third-down reception where he could have scored but instead gave himself up at the 2-yard line to run out the clock.

TOO MANY MISTAKES

-- This is a recurring theme, but one we should get used to when we're dealing with so many young players.

-- It also sure looked like the Dolphins couldn't catch a break from the officials the entire game on a day when there seemed to be blown calls or questionable calls all over the place.

-- There were three significant close calls that all went against the Dolphins in this one, the most notable the call that Chris Bell's got a piece of the sideline to nullify his 68-yard touchdown off a brilliant off-structure play by Malik Willis. There also was the replay-assisted decision to rule that the Minnesota player had tipped the ball and therefore the roughing-the-punter penalty that would have given the Dolphins a first down had to be erased. And lastly there was that run where Ollie Gordon II stumbled at the line, got up and raced down the field, only for the officials to rule he was touched before getting up when TV replays didn't clearly show that at all.

-- And we won't talk about the three holding penalties called on left tackle Patrick Paul, all on plays where similar circumstances didn't produce a flag. Let's just say the Dolphins got a flag-happy crew on this day.

-- Willis' final stats again won't look very good for him without telling the real story because he was under duress. But maybe the Dolphins can take some comfort in holding the Vikings to two sacks after they had at least four in each of their first three wins.

-- Back to Gordon, that was some impressive running by the second-year tailback, and it sure looked as though his success came up the middle or over the left side.

-- Malik Washington showed once again why he's the most reliable and dependable wide receiver on the team and his work after the catch was some kind of impressive.

-- We addressed this in our halftime observations, but yes the special teams were rough, but that often happens when you have a talent-defiicient roster and the players on the back end of that roster are those playing in the kicking game.

-- So now the Dolphins are 0-4 for the sixth time in franchise history, the first time since that 2019 season. This 0-4, though, continues to look nothing like the 0-4 of 2019 when they lost by 20 or more points each time.

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