The Minnesota Vikings return home to US Bank Stadium after a couple of weeks on the road. The Vikings remain unbeaten after winning in Tampa Bay to move to a 3-0 record. Next up is the winless Miami Dolphins.
Know Your Enemy: Week 4 – Miami Dolphins
Head Coach: Jeff Hafley
Best Players: Malik Willis (QB), De’Von Achane (RB), Aaron Brewer (C), Greg Dulcich (TE), Jordyn Brooks (LB)
Current Record: 0-3
The Vikings and Dolphins haven’t been regular opponents, with just 14 meetings between the two teams. Of those 14 games, 13 were during the regular season, with the other famously a showdown at Super Bowl VIII which the Dolphins won comfortably. Overall, the Dolphins lead the series 8-6, although after early dominance by Miami, the Vikings have won the last two.
The Season So Far
After failing to make the playoffs in the last two seasons under former head coach Mike McDaniel, it has been a rough start for new head coach Jeff Hafley.
The Dolphins have lost all three games so far this season, and all of them by multiple scores. Hafley is a defensive guy, most recently serving as the defensive coordinator in Green Bay before landing in Miami. His Dolphins team will play tough and are being steamrolled by anyone, but they have a massive problem.
The offense is not good. Hafley brought Malik Willis with him from Green Bay to be the starting quarterback. Willis had six starts in four seasons prior to landing in Miami, and other than a couple of decent outings filling-in for Jordan Love, there wasn’t much to suggest he was the guy to become a team’s starting QB. He has just 627 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions for the first three games. He is athletic and has a rushing touchdown this season, but also two fumbles.
The Dolphins have only managed one touchdown in each game so far, and that’s not a recipe for winning football. It got even worse at the weekend when star RB De’Von Achane left the game early with a knee injury. The reports came out on Monday that it was the worst possible news; Achane has torn his ACL and his season is over. For a winless team that is already struggling on offense, this is a catastrophic turn of events.
Players to Watch
The Dolphins’ best player by some distance is Jordyn Brooks, a first-team All-Pro linebacker who is one of the best at his position in the league. Brooks is strong, fast, physical, can play in space, and is at his best coming downhill to make tackles.
Minnesota has looked to lean heavily on their run game this season, and it won’t be easy with Brooks patrolling the middle of the field.
With Achane out for the season, the Dolphins are going to have to find more from their passing attack. That should start with veteran tight end Greg Dulcich. His five catches for 55 yards against the Chiefs on Sunday were a season high, and he now needs to take on the load of a volume receiver in the Dolphins’ threadbare offense.
Another player to look out for is rookie wide receiver Chris Bell, after just one catch in his first two games, Bell caught 4 of 7 targets for 67 yards against the Chiefs. The Dolphins will hope that was the beginning of an emergence for the third-round rookie.
