Dolphins Week 4 Power Rankings Roundup: The Outlook for All Winless Teams

The Miami Dolphins remained winless following their home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and their outlook for the rest of 2026 remains bleak in terms of wins and losses, but they also earned the respect of some national media members in Week 3.

The Dolphins again were an almost unanimously dead last in our survey of national outlets — Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The Athletic, NFL.com, USA Today, Pro Football Talk, FOX Sports, The Sporting News, CBS Sports — but they actually moved up in the eyes of NFL.com and The Athletic.

The average ranking position for Miami's Week 4 opponents, the Minnesota Vikings, was 8.2 after their victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved them to 3-0 on the season.

THE DOLPHINS AMONG THE WINLESS TEAMS

Before we get to our weekly rundown of the Dolphins placement in the rankings with the accompanying commentary, we wanted to take an additional approach this week, and this is a different kind of ranking.

The Dolphins are one of eight teams that have started 0-2 along with the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In a quick ranking of most disappointing starts among the winless teams, based on preseason expectations, old friend Mike McDaniel and his Chargers have to be a clear No. 1 after losing at home twice, twice by double digits and twice against teams that had a top five pick in the 2026 draft.

EXAMINING THE OUTLOOK FOR THE WINLESS TEAMS

The Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Commanders all got their first win of the season in Week 3, leaving five teams with an 0-fer so far in 2026.

Los Angeles Chargers — Their offense is an absolute mess, evidenced by scoring 16 points against Buffalo despite getting five takeaways. And their next six games at are Seattle, home against Denver, at Kansas City, at L.A. Rams, vs. Houston, at Baltimore before they play host to the New York Jets. This could go off the rails pretty badly.
Houston Texans — For the first time all season, the Texans defense looked like its old self a bit against the Colts last Sunday, but there's no running game. Houston is at home against Dallas on Sunday followed by a road game against Tennessee, so we're thinking they won't be winless for long.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers — The Bucs' slide that started late last season has continued and now Baker Mayfield will be out for about three weeks with a thumb injury. The Bucs do get the struggling Packers at home Sunday, but things are not good for Todd Bowles' team.
Tennessee Titans — The Titans let a great opportunity slip away with Cam Ward's brutal end zone interception — recorded by former Dolphins safety Jevon Holland — turned an apparent comeback victory into another bitter loss. Ward's performance so far doesn't inspire much confidence the Titans will win many games in 2026 and certainly not Sunday at Baltimore.
Miami Dolphins — The Dolphins obviously were more competitive against Kansas City, but now will have to make do without their best player for the rest of the season, starting Sunday at Minnesota.

THE DOLPHINS IN WEEK 4 NATIONAL POWER RANKINGS

The Sporting News (Vinnie Iyer)

Rank: 32 Previous: 31

Analysis: The Dolphins fought hard to give the Chiefs a game for a while with their defense and running game doing most of the work. Unfortunately, being down their best playmaker, De'Von Achane, still turns bad to worse.

CBS Sports (Pete Prisco)

Rank: 32 Previous: 32

Analysis: The beat goes on. They compete in games, but they just aren't good enough. It wasn't that bad against the Chiefs.

USA Today (Nate Davis)

Rank: 32

Analysis: You've got to feel for first-year coach Jeff Hafley, who next gets to take his overmatched, winless team to the Twin Cities − without its best player, injured RB De'Von Achane − to face the undefeated Vikings.

FOX Sports (Ralph Vacchiano)

Rank: 32 Previous: 32

Analysis: They hung with the Kansas City Chiefs until the final three minutes on Sunday, and they should hang a banner and print up some hats and T-shirts for that, because that’s probably as good as it’s going to get. They were already in deep trouble offensively, and now they’ve lost RB De’Von Achane for the season with a knee injury. That hurts even more because he would’ve been their biggest trading chip, too.

NFL.com (Nick Shook)

Rank: 30 Previous: 32

Analysis: The Dolphins perform admirably between the 20-yard lines on a weekly basis but can’t find ways to finish drives with trips to the end zone. They’re the most undermanned team in the NFL but don’t lack effort. In this league, however, talent tends to win when effort is comparable. For now, Miami is still figuring out how to walk before attempting to run.

The Athletic (Chad Graff and Josh Kendall)

Rank: 31 Previous: 32

Analysis on QB confidence: Malik Willis has thrown just one touchdown pass and is last among starters in off-target rate (20.9 percent), but he’s been thrown into an almost impossible situation. Willis’ receiving corps is Malik Washington and a bunch of rookies, he’s been sacked more times (nine) than all but four quarterbacks, and for some reason, the Dolphins have called only four designed runs for him.

ESPN

Rank: 32 Previous: 32

Analysis (on fantasy surprise): There aren't many (any?) Dolphins players who were drafted with an expectation to produce in fantasy outside of the injured De'Von Achane (torn ACL). But Washington has quietly been consistent this season. He was drafted as WR71 but is 30 spots higher entering Week 4. Washington averages just north of seven targets per game; he has at least four catches or 50 receiving yards in each game he has played. With Achane out for the season, the Dolphins might become more of a short, quick passing offense -- and Washington figures to be a beneficiary of that. -- Marcel Louis-Jacques

Pro Football Talk (Mike Florio)

Rank: 32 Previous: 31

Analysis: Stephen Ross won’t need to offer Jeff Hafley $100,000 for each game the team loses.

Sports Illustrated (Conor Orr)

Rank: 32 Previous: 32

Analysis: De’Von Achane is out for the season. The Dolphins are nearly eight times as likely to receive the No. 1 pick than the next-closest contender according to ESPN analytics. How will Arch Manning like South Beach, I wonder?

Yahoo Sports (Frank Schwab)

Rank: 32 Previous: 32

Analysis: The 1976 Buccaneers are the standard for bad teams in NFL history. They went 0-14 with -287 point differential, which is an NFL record. That's -20.5 per game. The 2026 Dolphins are 0-3 with a point differential of -50, which is -16.7 per game. The Dolphins aren't quite on the '76 Bucs' pace, but they're also not an expansion team. And now Miami will be without running back De'Von Achane, the most talented player on the roster who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 3. And still, Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley is being optimistic. Miami lost by 14 points on Sunday to the Chiefs, but it was a one-score game until the final three minutes.

THE MIAMI DOLPHINS ON SI WEEK 4 POWER RANKINGS

1. Buffalo
2. San Francisco
3. Kansas City
4. Seattle
5. Jacksonville
6. Denver
7. Minnesota
8. Chicago
9. L.A. Rams
10. Baltimore
11. Cincinnati
12. Philadelphia
13. Las Vegas
14. Pittsburgh
15. Detroit
16. Indianapolis
17. Cleveland
18. N.Y. Giants
19. Dallas
20. New England
21. Atlanta
22. Washington
23. Houston
24. New Orleans
25. Green Bay
26. Carolina
27. Arizona
28. N.Y. Jets
29. L.A. Chargers
30. Tampa Bay
31. Tennessee
32. Miami

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