Kelly: Plenty lessons to be learned from Dolphins’ season-opening loss | Opinion

Errors have a way of adding up like change placed in a jar.

Gather enough of them and eventually, in time, we can make something of the collection.

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At least that’s Jeff Hafley’s hope.

Unfortunately for South Florida’s NFL franchise, games like Sunday’s 27-13 season-opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders will likely be the norm because of the full-fledged youth movement the Dolphins have embarked on.

At least early. But hopefully not late because the goal of this season is to invest in their team’s youth hoping it will produce a favorable return in the second half of this season, and further down the line.

Hopefully that return shows up everywhere because that’s where this 2026 team needs help based on Sunday’s performance.

An indicator of how bad Miami’s defense was is the fact Raiders punter A.J. Cole made his first punt of the game with 14:07 left in the contest, which wasn’t much of a contest if we’re being honest.

Malik Willis, the Dolphins’ new starting quarterback, lost as many cleats (2) as his offense converted third downs the entire game (2 of 10).

Sloppy play from the special teams coverage units led to three touchdown-saving tackles from the Dolphins punter and kicker. But all it took was one bad angle and we’re probably adding 21 points to the final score.

Pair a 14-point deficit with a nonexistent rushing attack, which eventually had to be abandoned, and it delivered the Raiders’ defense an opportunity to tee off on Willis in the fourth quarter. And they did, creating 17 pressures and five sacks.

However, it wasn’t just Miami’s offensive line that struggled. The defensive front did as well.

Getting pummeled at the line of scrimmage allowed Ashton Jeanty to produce his third 100-yard rushing performance of his young career.

Before the Raiders took possession up 27-13 with 10:23 left in the game Las Vegas averaged 4.9 yards per carry, which means they produced half a first down on every attempt.

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And run-game success fed into Las Vegas’ play-action game, which Kirk Cousins feasted on, with Michae Taaffe and Dante Trader Jr. two interceptions being the lone exception.

The two turnovers the safeties created was one of a few positives Miami’s coaches can scavenge from Sunday’s road game.

Like Caleb Douglas’ five receptions for 94 yards was another, and Willis rushing for a 14-yard touchdown that closed the deficit to four points early in the third was one of the few bright spots.

And things might look dim for a while.

The margin for error is going to be razor-thin when the football team’s roster is filled with first-, second- and third-year players, and Sunday’s game was a good sampling of this.

The team put together by new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coached by Hafley looked young, inexperienced and disjointed.

“We have to coach better, and we need to play better,” Hafley said. “We’ll watch the film, coach it really hard and get better.

“Inconsistent. That’s how we played the game today.”

If Miami had given more of a spunky effort against the Raiders, which also changed coaches this offseason after firing Pete Carroll, whose team was so bad Las Vegas held the worst record in the NFL last season, we could at least say talent wasn’t the issue.

But Sunday’s game might just be a passing of the torch from one lackluster team to another.

“We have to learn from these types of games. Not take all the negatives out of it and ‘Woe is me,’” said Willis, who had a 66.9 passer rating in his first start for the Dolphins, and seventh of his NFL career. “It’s a long season and one game shouldn’t direct the path we want to go on.”

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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 7:46 PM.