Dolphins-49ers Week 2 Halftime Observations

Football admin September 20, 2026 0 Comments

Dolphins-49ers Week 2 Halftime Observations

What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins’ Week 2 game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium

We’ll start with the list of inactives, which again was highlighted by the presence on it of veteran wide receiver Jalen Tolbert, but this time accompanied by edge defender Chop Robinson, who missed the game because of his concussion.

WHAT STOOD OUT

— Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik lived up to his vow of getting De’Von Achane more involved, and it helped that the Dolphins were successful on the ground. The blocking up front also clearly was better in run blocking than what we saw against the Raiders in Week 1.

— The pass protection was pretty shaky again, particularly on that goal-to-go situation.

— Because of a combination of factors, the Dolphins played small ball in the first half, which was good in keeping the ball way from the 49ers but didn’t produce a lot of points. It probably wasn’t a great sign that Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell weren’t factors at all.

— Yes, it was deflating to see Riley Patterson miss a field goal attempt at the end of an otherwise solid first drive, but it illustrates the fickle nature of kickers. Patterson was money last year when he went 27-for-29 and he’s now got as many misses in two games this season as he had all of 2025. He’s not alone, though, because a lot of kickers have that one amazing season and have a hard time following it up.

— Malik Willis has to show better awareness when he’s flushed out of the pocket and simply throw the ball out of bounds inside of taking an unnecessary sack like he on that second-and-goal.

— That, of course, followed the Dolphins wasting a timeout because of confusion among the wide receivers as to where they were supposed to line up. This is the kind of mistake that can come back to hurt a team late in the half and it needs to be cleaned up.

— Chop Robinson or no Chop Robinson, getting to the quarterback remains a problem. And to make things worse, Brock Purdy even hurt the Dolphins with a designed naked bootleg that had edge defender Malik Herring bite hard inside to leave the outside wide open. Ugh.

— Purdy was very effective, but he also had some completions where he was able to go through his third, fourth, if not fifth reads. Dolphins DBs and linebackers just can’t be asked to cover that long.

— That said, that was a badly busted coverage on the completion to Demarcus Robinson when he ran across the field in front of Dante Trader Jr. and nobody picked him up once he got to the left side of the offensive formation.

— There was another mix-up defensively on Purdy’s touchdown run when both Willie Gay Jr. and Michael Taaffe took fullback Kyle Juszczyk out of the backfield after a fake handoff but neither bothered to get in Purdy’s path before he reached the goal line.

— Again, these kind of mistakes happen more often with young teams, and the Dolphins – in case you haven’t heard – have a very young team.

— Liked seeing Jaylen Wright returning kickoffs, as we suggested in the Week 2 Poop-pouri column, simply because he’s got more breakaway ability than Malik Washington.

— Kadyn Proctor pulling a good second or two before Aaron Brewer snapped the ball almost was funny, except it wasn’t, as the third pre-snap penalty of the half.

— Willis’ 23-yard completion to Washington after he escaped what appeared to be a certain third-down sack was a perfect example of him being able to show he can be a franchise quarterback without a great supporting cast. The offensive line let him down on that play, specifically the right side, but he still made something happen.

— Where stats can be deceiving: The Dolphins allowed only 125 yards in the first half … but that was because their offense controlled the clock and San Francisco had only two possessions, both of which ended with a touchdown.

— The Dolphins managed to keep somewhat close at the half despite the defensive issues with a 14-6 deficit, and those who wanted Achane more involved got their wish.

— It was all in all a good offensive half, but one that simply didn’t produce enough points.

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