What the Week 4 Film Told Us About the Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins suffered their fourth straight loss Sunday, this time at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings. Let’s take a look at the film and review the key takeaways.

Second-Level Defense

Through four weeks, the Miami Dolphins are among the worst teams defending intermediate passes. Pending Monday Night Football, NextGenStats has their EPA per pass on throws of 10-19 yards as the third-worst in the NFL.

Following the game, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell pointed out that Miami ran a significant number of split-safety coverages, leading to the dominant performance by tight end T.J. Hockenson, and looking back at the tape confirms his thoughts.

By dedicating defenders to a potential deep pass, two-high coverages naturally put a lot of stress on linebackers to cover plenty of space, while also being able to trigger downhill in the run game.

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— Tyler DeSena (@desena_tyler) October 6, 2026

The Vikings did a phenomenal job manipulating this responsibility, as shown on this play-action pass to Hockenson. Brooks bites on the fake, and with Trader gaining depth, there’s a wide-open vacancy for Murray to throw the ball.

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— Tyler DeSena (@desena_tyler) October 6, 2026

Here’s another look where the quarters coverage means Brooks is essentially one-on-one with Hockenson. Minnesota counters the underneath routes that they had success with all game by running a double-move, which leaves Brooks in the dust for a big gain.

Miami’s backers were in a blender for a majority of this game. Again, they’re being asked a lot, but I don’t think either Brooks or Jacob Rodriguez were particularly great in coverage. It felt like they were either too conservative or aggressive when the situation called for the opposite, and because of that, Minnesota stayed ahead of the sticks, rocking them to sleep until they threw the occasional haymaker. I think part of this can be chalked up to a lack of consistency up front further muddying their responsibilities, but by their standards, they weren’t up to par.

A Dominant Chop Robinson Showing

Miami’s play along the edges had been much maligned through the first few weeks. Their inability to rush the passer resulted in the Dolphins being the last team in the NFL to record a sack. The return of former first-round pick Chop Robinson, however, has had a major impact, as he had his best game of the season in Minnesota.

Robinson was consistently firing off of the line of scrimmage, and showcased an array of different pass rush moves. He finished with 10 pressures, which is over 25% of Miami’s total for the season.

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— Tyler DeSena (@desena_tyler) October 6, 2026

His sack of Kyler Murray was perhaps his best individual play. Matched up with two-time Pro Bowl tackle Brian O’Neill, Robinson easily converts speed to power. He perfectly places his hands inside the frame of O’Neill, walking him back into Kyler Murray with a bull rush. Then, as Murray attempts to escape and Will Fries comes over to knock Robinson off of his path, he’s able to disengage with the tackle and contort his body to wrap his outside arm around Murray.

This version of Robinson is transformative for Miami’s defense. His explosiveness is unmatched in their edge room, and the ability to affect the passer makes everyone else’s lives easier.

Talent Disparity and Inexperience

I’ve been thinking about this year in terms of every player doing their 1/11th. Yes, it’s a coaching platitude, but it really puts Miami’s offensive struggles into perspective.

This group looks like one that jettisoned several of their most talented players, and quite frankly, they just don’t have the top-end talent to pick up the slack. On any given play, a majority of players will do their 11th, but it’s more often that one or two individual assignments wreck a play, rather than elevate it.

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— Tyler DeSena (@desena_tyler) October 6, 2026

This second-down run on Miami’s first drive of the game is a prime example. Asking rookie fullback DJ Herman to kick out Andrew Van Ginkel is a task that he’s simply not ready to handle quite yet, and when combined with Kadyn Proctor failing to account for the inside slant from Kyle Van Noy, Jaylen Wright ends up tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

Proctor has been one of Miami’s better players through the first month of the season, and plays like this one are to be expected from a rookie starting at a new position. When it comes to wins and losses, however, there simply isn’t room for error, especially when the players tasked with covering for it aren’t able to.

DJ Herman had a rough go of it, and has started the season like an undrafted rookie learning a new position. Austin Jackson hasn’t found his footing, and has been an utter liability in pass protection. Greg Dulcich has often been assigned key blocking roles and has really struggled. Individually, these are all difficult to overcome. It goes from bad to worse, though, when one of Miami’s three starting offensive linemen, blocking tight end, or top three receivers (all seven of whom are in their third year or younger) has the occasional bad rep.

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