At long last, Dolphins football returns to Hard Rock Stadium. After a two-game West Coast swing, Miami will play its first home game since its December 28 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season. On the other side, will be the three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
"Very difficult to prepare for, but I think we're all excited for the challenge," Head Coach Jeff Hafley said. "I have a ton of respect for how he's come back from his injury and seems to have not missed a step. He's still running around, he's still keeping plays alive, he's still running the ball. He hasn't missed a beat. He's in total command at the line of scrimmage. He's changing protections. He's doing the stuff that he's always done."
Helping Mahomes this season is prized free-agent signing and Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker. His impact has been immediate. Walker leads the NFL in broken tackles (23, per Pro Football Focus), and his 243 yards after initial contact are 86 yards more than anybody else in the NFL.
One way the Dolphins can limit Mahomes and Walker is to possess the football, akin to the first half of last week's game at San Francisco. Miami ran 28 plays in opposing territory and limited the 49ers offense to two first-half possessions.
In the second half, quarterback Malik Willis threw his first touchdown pass as a Dolphin when he found wide receiver Ryan Miller for a 77-yard strike. That play gave Willis his first game as a Dolphin with a passer rating over 100.0 (103.0), and the fifth in his eight career starts.
Miami will be without one of Willis' top options in rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas, who exited Sunday's game with an injury.
The focus for the Dolphins this week will be finding the end zone. Two of the three drives in the opening half last week lasted 12 or more plays, but they produced six points.
"We want to score touchdowns, but at the same time, we just got to continue to drive and get the ball and get points," Willis said. "And that's how you do it. And our defense will continue to do what they're doing. They'll keep getting better as well. They got a lot of young guys over there. And we'll just continue to play complementary football."
The Dolphins are leaning on their veteran leaders to push through the 0-2 start. The offseason roster construction was an intentional effort to find players who could lead and guide a young team through the ups and downs of an NFL season. Players like linebacker Jordyn Brooks help set the tone.
"I think the best way that I can inspire this team right now is to keep pushing," Brooks said. I think personally I haven't had the start of the season that I wanted and as a leader people look to you, see how you react in those moments when you're not having the games that you want, you're not having the success that you want individually. I think the best way I can inspire them is to continue to show up and be who I am, work hard, practice hard and keep pushing and know that it's light at the end of the tunnel and things will get better as long as you keep working."
Make sure to check out the Injury Report and the team's official social media accounts 90 minutes before kickoff to see who is active for the game.
Watch the game live on Sunday, September 27 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. You can also listen on the Dolphins Radio Network and view the Game Center for the latest coverage.
