Malik Willis answered his Miami Dolphins critics with a performance that was even better than it looked
Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis posted one of the NFL’s best single-game performances of the season against the New York Jets.
The noise was loud. Quarterback Malik Willis, on the heels of a three turnover game against the Cincinnati Bengals, endured two weeks of public chatter about his play.
On one hand, it was deserved after a frustrating performance against the Bengals. But on the other hand, Willis and the rest of the Dolphins’ offense deserve time as patience to find their footing. They found it against the New York Jets. And Willis, for at least one week, will have done enough to quiet the noise around his prospects as a future starter in South Florida. Because Willis wasn’t just good against the New York Jets in a 28-25 victory. He was among the best single-game performers the NFL has seen this season.
Miami Dolphins QB Malik Willis logs the NFL’s 5th best single game EPA/drop back performance of the season
Willis was, in a word, excellent against the New York Jets. He finished with an efficient day passing — 14 of 21 for 208 yards and two passing touchdowns. Add in his rushing production and it was a three total touchdown day against New York. That is one less touchdown that he logged in Miami’s first five games combined — and he did it while going against what was, at the time, the 5th best scoring defense in football. Not a bad day at the office for a quarterback who had to endure all kinds of speculation throughout the course of Miami’s week-long layoff against the Jets.
But I’d like to put Willis’ performance in a different perspective. Expected points added (EPA) is a measure of performance versus historical norms on a play by play basis. And Willis’ Week 7 showing against the New York Jets was…well…something to behold when measured in EPA per drop back. Willis finished his game against the Jets with the 2026 season’s fifth-best single-game EPA/drop back total of the season thus far.
Not a typo! Brock Purdy against the Dolphins and Cardinals, Drake Maye against the Raiders, and Jaxson Dart against the Dallas Cowboys were the only single-game performances with a better EPA/drop back than Willis vs. the New York Jets. It’s only one game. But it is a big game. And if it ends up being the launch point to something bigger? Well, then the Miami Dolphins are going to have a really exciting couple of months ahead of them.
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