Things were already going to be hard for the Miami Dolphins in 2026 before this problem reared its ugly head in Week 1
No one phase of the Miami Dolphins’ 27-13 loss to Las Vegas is without blame. But the execution of this group in particular needs to find answers fast.
The Miami Dolphins‘ Week 1 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders wasn’t exactly a fulfilling return to football. Miami had flashes from young players — but things weren’t anywhere near clean enough to give the franchise a change to win the game.
Some elements of the game simply tilted the field in Las Vegas’ favor with talent. But self-inflicted wounds and execution also played a heavy hand. But perhaps the most frustrating element of Miami’s defeat wasn’t the poor first-half performance on defense. Nor was it the underwhelming running effort on offense. No — the Miami Dolphins made life way too easy on the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
The Miami Dolphins made life way too easy for the Las Vegas Raiders on special teams on Sunday
On drives that started after a kickoff by the Miami Dolphins, the Las Vegas Raiders’ average starting field position was their own 44 yard line. That is, by far, the best mark of any team to have played thus far in Week 1 of the 2026 season. It’s a good summary of just how much special teams struggled on Sunday in Las Vegas. But it wasn’t the only sign of troubles.
The Raiders returned two punts for 35 yards. The 35 return yards (they were 12 and 23 yards, respectively) is tied for the third-best mark of any team in the league so far in Week 1 — and their average yards per return of 17.5 ranks second.
The Dolphins, on the other hand, saw Riley Patterson miss a field goal in the second half shortly after one of the best special teams contributions of the game: Jaylen Wright’s long kickoff return. Patterson, by the way, made both tackles on Miami’s kickoff coverage throughout the course of the game. Not how you draw it up. So if you want a quick way for the Dolphins to play more complimentary football with this roster, special teams would be a great place to start.
The catch, of course, is that many of the reps on special teams are taken on by the bottom half of the roster — where Miami’s depth issues are most obvious.
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