Did Dolphins find a recipe for offensive success in first half of 49ers loss?

Miami Dolphins admin September 23, 2026 0 Comments

Did Dolphins find a recipe for offensive success in first half of 49ers loss?

It might appear rather insignificant.

But for the opening two quarters of the Miami Dolphins’ Week 2 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, it was a game.

They controlled time of possession. They had more yards. And, they found themselves down by just 14-6 at halftime. It’s no wonder many players believe they found a formula for offensive success.

“Our offense did a wonderful job of just maintaining the ball, keeping the ball, pushing past and getting down the field,” wide receiver Malik Washington said. “San Francisco only had two drives in the first half. So us just keeping the ball and continuously pushing down the field.”

Although the Week 2 game ended in a 35-13 loss, the margin was close at halftime. In fact, the Dolphins nearly doubled the Niners’ time of possession (19:17 to 10:43) but had outgained them (165 to 125) as well. Their biggest issue: an inability to finish in the red zone as Miami’s two trips yielded field goals rather than touchdowns.

“When you look at the plan to win in this game, they got one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL,” coach Jeff Hafley said. “There’s a Pro Bowler at just about every position. So, in order to keep those guys from making plays, we wanted to keep them off the field. The game played out exactly how we were trying to play it in the first half, other than scoring in the red zone, which we had the opportunity to do, and limiting them to minimum plays.”

Of course the biggest change in the first half was the reliance on star running back De’Von Achane. After a 15 touch game yielded just 66 yards during a 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders the previous week, Miami made a point to get their Pro Bowler the rock.

“I’m always excited with the ball in my hands because I feel like I can make plays,” Achane said before referring to offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. “Whatever he calls and however the game is going, I’m also a team player too. The game went that way and I was okay with it.”

And, for all intents and purposes, it worked. Achane had 81 total yards in the first half, 62 of which were rushing, as well as 17 touches. He finished with 74 rushing yards on 20 attempts as well as three catches for another 19.

Quarterback Malik Willis, however, saw it a bit differently. To him, it wasn’t necessarily a recipe to success; rather, the success came directly from the Dolphins’ improved execution.

“We were executing better than we had been in the first game,” Willis said of Miami’s first-half play. “We need to continue to do that in the second half and that game looks a lot different.”

From Day 1, the Dolphins expressed the longing to be a run-first team that plays hard and defends well. It was rookie offensive lineman Kadyn Prcotor who famously said Miami will “run the s***” out of the ball in 2026.

That, however, hasn’t necessarily come to past. Through two games, the Dolphins have only shown one successful half — the opening two quarters of the 49ers game — of an impressive rushing attack. Through to weeks, Miami currently ranks 26th in terms of total yardage on the ground.

Obviously, the first half provided some answers, but that cannot be the end all be all.

“Fixing our mistakes is really the biggest thing and not changing too much,” Proctor said. “That first half, we’re playing some good football, so just got to build off of that.”