MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins were expected to get beaten convincingly by Kansas City on Sunday in their home opener at Hard Rock Stadium. That didn’t happen. Miami lost, 24-10, and although the Dolphins won’t be happy about the loss they can take solace in the way they played, which was promising.

Miami (0-3) showed fight and gave fans reason to believe in the rebuild by hanging with the Chiefs (3-0).

By the way, there were a high number of Kansas City fans in their red jerseys in the stands but Taylor Swift, the superstar singer/entertainer who is married to Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, didn’t attend. She was at the VMAs (Video Music Awards) in Los Angeles.

Here’s what we learned Sunday:

Willis has productive day, just not statistically

Quarterback Malik Willis (20 of 36, 210 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and a 61.1 passer rating to go along with nine carries for 56 yards) showed Sunday that the Dolphins might not need to use a first-round pick on a quarterback. Willis made wise plays, both large and small, and kept the Dolphins afloat the entire day.

Willis showed a sign of learning when he threw it away on second-and-9 from the Chiefs 14-yard line in the first quarter. Last week Willis took a “sack” on a four-yard loss when he scrambled left and didn’t get rid of the ball.

Later, Willis threw a decent pass to wide receiver Malik Washington (five receptions, 56 yards) on fourth-and-4 from the Kansas City 49-yard line but it was batted away by rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane. In another sign of growth, Willis wisely threw it away on a play in which running back Ollie Gordon II tossed it back after a handoff. Wide receivers Washington and Chris Bell (four receptions, 67 yards) were in the area but neither was open.

However, Willis inexplicably lost a fumble when linebacker Dru Tranquill tackled him. Willis used his hand to stay off the ground and lost the ball in the meantime. Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed recovered. Willis was also fortunate that safety Alhoi Gillman dropped a sure interception later in the third quarter.

The numbers weren’t pretty but Willis showed he’s maturing. — Chris Perkins

Miami getting better?

The rebuilding Dolphins, who played a solid game Sunday, have now played two Super Bowl hopefuls — San Francisco and Kansas City — in their three games and there’s reason to believe Miami is improving.

The Dolphins have shown an ability to run the ball, even in the absence of running back De’Von Achane (knee), and they flashed signs of a pass rush even though a sack by linebacker Jordyn Brooks was negated by a penalty. They ended with five quarterback hits and no sacks. They remain the only team in the NFL without a sack.

Still, the Dolphins displayed a spirit and fire in the belly that many wondered about in the days leading up to the game. In a few ways it was an encouraging game.

Run game comes alive

The Dolphins rushed 31 times for 119 yards even though Achane, who was fifth in the league in rushing last season with 1,350 yards, sustained a knee injury on the Dolphins’ first possession and didn’t return. Achane went into the blue medical tent on the sideline, and then into the locker room for the rest of the first half. He emerged early in the third quarter with no helmet or shoulder pads.

But the Dolphins ended the quarter with nine carries for 46 yards. Achane (three carries, 17 yards) led the way but Gordon (four carries, 16 yards) and Willis (two carries, 13 yards) also contributed.

Gordon, who ended with a career-best 17 carries for 41 yards, almost matched his career best of 10 carries in the first half. He had eight carries for 28 yards and one touchdown. The Dolphins ended the first half with 16 carries for 69 yards and one touchdown.

Robinson surfaces in good and bad ways

Edge rusher Chop Robinson (two tackles), who missed last week’s 49ers game due to his third concussion in 11 months, was quiet in the first half Sunday. But Robinson was called for a roughing the passer penalty against quarterback Patrick Mahomes (defensive tackle Zach Sieler was called for holding, too, on the play) on third-and-9 from the Chiefs 5-yard line late in the third quarter.

Robinson applied second-down pressure later in the fourth quarter, forcing an incomplete pass and narrowly missing a sack. Still, the Dolphins need more from Robinson.

Big plays by TEs . . . on both sides

Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce (two receptions, 59 yards) had a 48-yard reception to open the game, reminiscent of the 40-yard reception by San Francisco tight end George Kittle on the first play of the second half last week. Kansas City tight end Noah Gray added three receptions for 39 yards.

Dolphins tight end Greg Dulcich (five receptions, 55 yards) had a 42-yard reception in which he made a nice adjustment to the ball.

First half possessions still successful for opponents but Dolphins gain ground

The Dolphins did a better job defending first-half possessions Sunday.

Kansas City’s first half possessions went touchdown, touchdown, stopped on downs, interception and end of half. That’s a sign of progress from the opening two games.

Las Vegas’ first half possessions went touchdown, field goal, touchdown.

San Francisco’s went touchdown, touchdown.

Change in starting nickel package

The Dolphins gave a few looks in the nickel (five defensive backs) package among cornerbacks Chris Johnson, Jason Marshall Jr., JuJu Brents and Julius Wood.

The Dolphins opened with Wood in the slot and Johnson and Marshall on the outside. Then they went to Johnson in the slot and Brents and Marshall on the outside, which is the formation they used for most of the game. They also used Wood with Brents and Johnson.

Change in safety play

Rookie safety Michael Taaffe (five tackles) and second-year safety Dante Trader Jr. (nine tackles) played the majority of the game Sunday after rotating in with veteran safety Zayne Anderson during the first two games.

Anderson played mostly special teams Sunday. This might be the beginning of the Dolphins settling into a permanent rotation.

Rodriguez continues flashing playmaking skills

Rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (six tackles), the second-round pick who had 14 tackles in the opener, had an interception, a key fourth-down stop on fourth-and-1 from the Miami 12-yard line and a second-down tackle for loss in the third quarter. He had three tackles for loss.

Rodriguez, who had eight tackles last week, continues to ascend.

Hafley goes for it on fourth-and-4 from 50 . . . and gets rewarded

The Dolphins might be developing a tough attitude and never-say-die mentality.

Hafley decided to go for it from midfield with 9:22 left in the second quarter and Miami trailing, 14-7. Willis threw incomplete to Washington when rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane swatted the ball away.

But the reward was a strong defensive stand by Miami.

Taaffe and Trader and stopped running back Kenneth Walker III, who entered the game as the NFL’s leading rusher, on third-and-1 from the Dolphins 12-yard line and Rodriguez and edge rusher Malik Herring stopped Walker on fourth-and-1 from the Dolphins 12-yard line.

Crazy-Dolphins-statistical-anomaly alert

According to Pro Football Reference, in the 25 seasons from 2001 through 2025, the Dolphins had only eight possessions where they ran at least 17 plays. After Miami’s first-quarter touchdown, the 2026 squad has logged two of those monsters in the first 2 1/4 games of this season. Strange but true. — Steve Svekis

That was a reckless eschewing of a punt by Hafley

Trailing by seven at midfield with the defense starting to hit a rhythm, you punt the ball on fourth-and-6 with 5:56 left with two timeouts. There has been a bunch of defensible aggression by Hafley, but he flushed a chance to get the game to overtime or win it late with that recklessness. Must have a more intelligent attack strategy.

No pass rush, no reliable corners equal bloated longer-term opponent passer ratings

Heading into the home opener, over the past six games, dating back to December 2025, the Dolphins had yielded opposing quarterbacks a 118.42 passer rating. How unsightly is that? Only a period from December of 2018 through October of 2019 has produced more inept half-dozen-game spans, anchored by the 155.9 produced by Lamar Jackson and Tom Brady in the two games to begin the 0-7 start of the eventual 5-11 2019 campaign. Patrick Mahomes’ 119.8 rating on Sunday only throws fuel onto the fire as the hideous run extends to seven games.

Here on wet-paper-sack corner

The Dolphins set a franchise record for pass-rush futility with a fourth consecutive game (dating back to the 2025 finale) without a sack. Jordyn Brooks looked like he had the team’s first sack early in the second quarter, but it was negated by a defensive holding flag against rookie safety Michael Taaffe. According to pro-football-reference.com, two Dolphins teams had been tied with 2026 with no sacks in three straight games: 1987 and 2015.

Malik Willis — and Ollie Gordon —bailed out Ollie Gordon

Gordon began the Dolphins possession with an inane decision that cost Miami 26 yards as he returned a kickoff that had flown into the end zone. Downing it there would have placed the ball at the 35. Instead, he hesitantly broke the plane of the goal and ran out. An illegal block at the 18 shoved the ball back to the 9. Malik Willis, though, methodically pushed the ball downfield, with him throwing for 55 yards and running for 13.

And then, after the injury to De’Von Achane, Gordon was RB1, and he was solid, including tallying a massive 14 yards on the final two plays of that possession, including the hard-driving, Kadyn Proctor-assisted, 3-yard touchdown carry. He also had a huge catch at the Chiefs’ 11 for a first down on a third-down-and-10 play on the first possession of the second half.

Malik Willis — and L’Jarius Sneed — bailed out L’Jarius Sneed

The cornerback, in his second tour with the Chiefs, committed a defensive holding on a fourth-and-3 incompletion at the Kansas City 37, giving Miami a first down. Then, two plays later, Sneed dislodged the ball as Willis was about to hit the ground after a 9-yard advance. Sneed also secured the ball for the massive turnover.

Sieler drew two huge penalties in a four-play span against Chiefs Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith

On a first-and-10 at the Chiefs’ 36, Smith tore Sieler’s helmet off, and then, three snaps later, the Kansas City standout grabbed a fistful of Sieler’s jersey on a third-and-8, leading to a Chiefs punt to end the Chiefs’ opening possession of the second half.

But Smith got away one as the officials committed malpractice on a Chiefs touchdown

On the Patrick Mahomes underhand touchdown pass to Kenneth Walker III, Smith was 3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage at the pass’ release, when the allowance is a single yard. That should be reviewable. Game-altering miss.

Travis Kelce found the end zone in Miami Gardens yet again

This was Mr. Swift’s fourth career game at Hard Rock Stadium, and he has scored a touchdown in each of them, including in the 2020 Super Bowl. He has 19 grabs for 274 yards to go with those four TDs in his career in Miami Gardens.

On deck: Minnesota Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium, Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

The Dolphins face former coach Brian Flores as an opposing defensive coordinator for the first time since his departure from Miami in early 2022. This will be Miami’s second visit to U.S. Bank Stadium, getting drubbed there, 41-17, in 2018.

This will also be, assuming he is healthy, quarterback Kyler Murray’s third game against the Dolphins, and no team has brought out better performances from the athletic, diminutive passer than the aqua-and-orange. In the previous games in Arizona and South Florida, Murray has an out-of-sight 131.8 passer rating (his 117.8 in two games against the Browns is his second-best number in the category for his career), with 15 non-kneeldown runs for 126 yards (8.4 yards a carry).