Dolphins Week 4 Report Card: Defense Delivers, But Miami Finds Another Way to Lose

At some point, the Miami Dolphins have to run out of new ways to lose.

The Dolphins already were expected to be one of the NFL’s worst teams, so catching a few breaks early in the season would have been nice.

But Miami has gotten the short end of the stick, not having faced a team with a loss through the first four games of the season.

The primary culprit for the team's fourth loss in four games was offensive inefficiency. Miami ran just 37 offensive plays, picked up eight first downs and possessed the ball for only 20:49, yet still averaged more yards per play than Minnesota and rushed for 121 yards on 18 carries. The defense did its part, keeping the Vikings out of the end zone on all three red-zone trips.

Here’s how each position group graded out in Miami’s Week 4 loss:

THE WEEK 4 DOLPHINS REPORT CARD

Quarterback: C

At some point, Malik Willis will have to take the brunt of having the second-lowest completion percentage (57%) among qualifying NFL quarterbacks. For now, though, there’s still enough context to give him some slack, especially when the numbers don’t quite tell the full story (do they ever, though?)

He finished 9-of-17 for 85 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, with a 67.0 passer rating, although he had a 68-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bell wiped away.

The play was another example of Willis’ improvisational ability. He stepped up in the pocket before somehow snaking his way out once it collapsed, broke multiple tackles while rolling right and delivered the ball while taking a hit.

On the other hand, his second-quarter fumble gave Minnesota the ball near midfield. Dallas Turner beat Austin Jackson off the edge and caught Willis from the side for the strip-sack, immediately wiping out a promising Miami possession.

Willis then got the ball back trailing 15-10 with 6:41 remaining, and the Dolphins went three-and-out. On third-and-8, he passed up Kevin Coleman Jr. wide open on an out route and instead attacked Chris Bell up the seam against Cover 0. Willis recognized the blitz and gave his bigger receiver a chance one-on-one, but floated the throw enough for a second defensive back to recover and help make a play.

On the surface, passing up a wide-open Coleman is a rough look. But Coleman entered the game with the lowest reception percentage among qualifying NFL receivers, and Willis opted to trust the bigger Bell on a contested opportunity downfield. It wasn’t the best decision, particularly given the situation, but it also isn’t as indefensible as the replay makes it look.

Running Back: A-

We knew they’d bring up the Doak Walker Award on the broadcast as soon as he got going, and rightfully so. For a guy who has been mysteriously average over the past few years since looking like the best running back in college football, this was the first time Gordon really looked like that player again.

Gordon had nine carries for 100 yards and a touchdown, averaging 11.1 yards per carry. His 53-yard run on third-and-5, where he reached Miami’s fastest speed of the day at 18.65 mph, changed the entire third quarter. On the run, Gordon II made an impeccable read up the left side, slow-playing his track along the line of scrimmage before Greg Dulcich sealed Josh Metellus on the edge. Gordon then burst through the crease and finished the run by planting a nasty stiff arm on Harrison Smith.

He later scored from 12 yards out to bring the Dolphins within 12-10.

Remove the 53-yarder and he still averaged 5.9 yards per carry and he still had 47 yards on eight attempts.

The only thing keeping me from giving the group an A+ is the fact that Jaylen Wright managed only 7 yards on five carries after returning from injury.

Wide Receivers: C

Malik Washington saves the day here.

Despite standing just 5-8, Washington has impressively handled some of the route-tree responsibilities that come with being a No. 1 receiver. Twice, he used his speed to stem inside and push vertically beyond 10 yards before snapping his route back toward the sideline to move the chains.

The rest of the room was almost nonexistent. Coleman Jr. went 1-for-4 for 3 yards, Chris Bell finished 0-for-3 after having the touchdown wiped away and later failed to come down with the jump ball, while Jalen Tolbert went 0-for-1.

Washington continued separating himself from an extremely inexperienced room, but nobody else helped Willis enough.

Tight Ends: C

Will Kacmarek had the longest catch of his career, hauling in a 15-yard pass over the middle. He also continues to keep himself on the field as a blocker, especially in situations where he can help take some pressure off Austin Jackson.

Greg Dulcich didn’t record a reception, but he made a strong block to help spring Gordon’s 53-yard run. Outside of the Week 3 loss to the Chiefs, when Dulcich caught five passes for 55 yards, the position has been mostly a non-factor in the passing game.

Offensive Line: D+

This was one of the tougher grades to come up with, and the run blocking was nearly good enough to bump it up to a C.

Miami rushed for 121 yards on 18 attempts, 6.7 per carry, and Gordon repeatedly found room inside and off the left side.

But the negatives directly killed possessions. Patrick Paul was called for three holding penalties, including one that erased an 11-yard Willis run. Austin Jackson had trouble (surprise, surprise) with Dallas Turner's speed off the edge, and Turner finished with two sacks, five pressures and the strip-sack of Willis.

Defensive Line / Edge: A

While facing a Vikings offensive line that was ranked among Pro Football Focus’ top 10 heading into this week, Miami somehow decided this was the week they would get after the quarterback.

The Dolphins entered Week 4 without a sack and finished with four sacks for 34 yards, eight quarterback hits and six tackles for loss. Zach Sieler had two sacks, Josh Uche had one, and Chop Robinson had one where he bulldozed Vikings tackle brian oneill along with a game-high three quarterback hits.

Uche also forced Aaron Jones’ fourth-quarter fumble, though the ball went out of bounds, and continues to show flashes of the player who recorded 11.5 sacks with New England in 2022 now that he’s seeing consistent playing time.

Minnesota rushed for 123 yards, but needed 31 attempts to get there, as Sieler, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers consistently generated push up front and made the Vikings work for their yards on the ground.

Linebackers: B

Jacob Rodriguez keeps putting up ridiculous numbers. He finished with 18 tackles, nine solo and nine assists while Jordyn Brooks also reached double digits, finishing with 13 tackles.

Rodriguez and Brooks have combined for 81 tackles through four games, more than any other pair of teammates in the NFL through Sunday’s Week 4 action.

The bigger issue was Minnesota’s intermediate passing game.

When a tight end, in this case T.J. Hockenson, catches all 13 of his targets for 119 yards, your linebackers are probably doing something wrong. Aaron Jones also caught four passes for 34 yards.

That showed up on Hockenson’s third-and-5 catch late in the fourth quarter that helped seal the game just before the two-minute warning. Brooks flowed hard to his right and bit on the play-action on what looked like a run down, leaving Hockenson open working across the left side of the field for the conversion. Earlier in the drive, with 4:12 remaining, Murray squeezed a pass past Brooks into the middle of the field to Jordan Addison, who moved Minnesota into Miami territory with the clock continuing to bleed.

Defensive Backs: B-

On one hand, Murray finished with zero touchdown passes, and Miami kept the Vikings out of the end zone on three red-zone trips.

On the other hand, Murray completed 27 of 37 passes, without Justin Jefferson, and Miami couldn't get off the field when it mattered.

Second-year cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. continues to take strides, not allowing a catch while taking 19 snaps in coverage.

Special Teams: D

This is where Miami lost a lot of ground.

Minnesota averaged 35 yards per kickoff return and 17 yards per punt return, including a 47-yard kickoff return and a 36-yard punt return, while Miami averaged only 19.4 yards on its five kickoff returns.

The Dolphins also had issues securing kicks. Malik Washington muffed a punt in the first half before recovering it, while Jaylen Wright muffed Minnesota’s final kickoff and recovered it at the 17, leaving Miami starting at its own 18 with 6:41 remaining and needing a touchdown.

Bradley Pinion averaged 45.8 yards per punt but only 37.3 net because of the return yardage. Riley Patterson did his job, hitting a 27-yard field goal and his extra point.

Overall: C

Miami's defense did not allow a touchdown while tallying its first four sacks of the season in the process of holding a 4-0 opponent to 15 points.

While Gordon II’s rushing performance gives reason for excitement, it doesn’t erase the fact that the offense produced just eight first downs and 198 total yards while possessing the ball for barely more than one-third of the game, including exactly one minute in the fourth quarter.

Luckily for Miami, it will finally face an opponent that already has a loss on its record, as the 2-2 Bengals come to Hard Rock Stadium in Week 5 after dropping back-to-back games.

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