One of our biggest suspicions for the Miami Dolphins’ 2026 season opener has now been confirmed
The Miami Dolphins will head west to clash with the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1 of the 2026 season.
It’s official! The Miami Dolphins are going to be headed west next weekend to open their 2026 season against the Las Vegas Raiders. And after months of posturing, we now finally know the Raiders’ intentions for their offense.
The leadership out of Las Vegas has generally insisted that No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza will sit to start the season. And they’ve put their money where their mouth is, as head coach Klint Kubiak has officially named Kirk Cousins the starter.
The Miami Dolphins will officially face QB Kirk Cousins when they visit the Las Vegas Raiders
Kirk Cousins will be starting against the Miami Dolphins for the fifth time in his NFL career. He’s 2-2 in starts against Miami, including a loss last season while starting for the Atlanta Falcons. Interestingly enough, Cousins averages 189 passing yards per game in four contests against Miami, which ranks as the second-lowest mark allowed by any NFL franchise against Cousins. Only the Baltimore Ravens have a better mark.
Those teams won’t have any impact on this one, though. There’s hardly any holdovers from last year’s team, let alone the coaching and scheme that helped to put the screws onto Cousins last season. Cousins finished Atlanta’s 34-10 loss to Miami last season 21/31 passing for just 173 yards and a passer rating of 81.8. The key for the Dolphins? Locking down the running game. They’ll need to do the same against Kubiak and the Raiders.
This news does give the Dolphins plenty of time to plan accordingly for who they’ll face. And the pass rush will know full well that they’ve in for against Cousins. Should they be able to crash the pocket, things will be looking up for the Dolphins as they try to get their season off on the right foot.
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