The Dolphins hung tight with the Kansas City Chiefs for most of the game, but somehow that game never felt close. The Dolphins not only had a chance in this game against Minnesota, but they also actually held a lead. Well, for about 30 seconds. Still, this one was a heartbreaking loss because unlike the previous 3 games, they felt like they could win. There were some more positives, but plenty of negatives. Here’s what I saw on a quick watch.

THE OFFENSIVE NEEDS… WORK

First, I will give credit where credit is due. The Vikings have one of the best defenses in the NFL. They generate a ton of pressure and have the best scoring defense in the NFL. They have held better offenses to less. The Bears scored 59 points in week one against the Panthers. The Vikings held them to 3 points at their home. The Vikings have only allowed 4 TDs all season, one of which was to the Dolphins.

That said, the Dolphins’ offense was nothing short of terrible on Sunday. Willis struggled mightily, going 9-17 and 85 yards. He was sacked twice, though one of those sacks was a “strip sack” where the ball hit a defender’s helmet right before Willis was able to throw it. Despite the best pressure defense in the league, the Dolphins mostly kept Willis clean. The bigger issue in my opinion is the lack of playmakers helping their QB (hat tip to JUK). Willis targeted 6 WRs in the contest and only Malik Washington was the only one to contribute in a meaningful way. Rookie Chris Bell was blanked on 3 targets. Greg Dulcich wasn’t even targeted. Without Caleb Douglas, the Dolphins don’t have the weaponry to consistently move the chains and have a productive offense. Some of the blame will go to Willis and rightfully so. But he doesn’t have the help he needs either. This would be the same for a rookie this season OR next season. Unless Miami goes out in FA and signs a big time WR or TE – unlikely – then whatever rookie QB they draft will also struggle thanks to the skill players around him.

THE DEFENSE ALSO NEEDS WORK DESPITE SOME POSITIVES

There is a lot being made about how the defense stepped up in this game. They finally got home to the QB getting 4 sacks after getting shutout the previous 3 games. The Dolphins were able to generate pressure all game long. Linebackers Rodriguez and Brooks had a combined 31 tackles, with the rookie getting 18 total and 9 solo tackles. The Dolphins kept the Vikings out of the end zone, forcing 5 FG attempts. But…

The Vikings were an even worse offense than the Dolphins entering this game. In week one, the Vikings QBs passed for 151 yards. In week 2, that number was 143. In week 3, they went for 168 yards. Against Miami, Murray went for 247 yards. In the previous 3 contests, the Vikings barely topped 62% CP in one game and 55% or below in the other 2. Murray went 27-37 against the Dolphins, for a whopping 72.9%. Wildly, that’s lower than what Miami had been allowing at over 80%. But they couldn’t contain what had been the worst passing offense in the league. The Vikings were able to do it without Justin Jefferson also. The damage came from tight end TJ Hockenson, whom the Dolphins could not stop. He caught 13 passes on 13 targets for 119 yards and would have scored a TD at the end but slid to force kneel-downs and end the game. Considering the Vikings #2 WR Jordan Addison was quietly 4-52, you would think the Dolphins would have forced Murray to look at someone other than Hockenson. But no. Not only that, but the Dolphins had been tighter against the run in the 1st 3 games. But they allowed Aaron Jones to go 20 carries for 94 yards. Murray went 6 for 16, but lost 5 yards on 3 kneel-downs, so he gained 21 yards on 3 actual attempts.

The Dolphins kept the Vikings out of the end zone and were able to get on the board for sacks. But they will face much better QBs and offenses in the next few games and they don’t appear to have solved the issue of keeping QBs from getting easy completions. They also couldn’t get off the field when they needed to.

If I asked you how many plays the Dolphins had in the fourth quarter, could you tell me without looking it up? I’ll tell you now: 3. That’s it. Three plays was all the offense had. We can argue about how bad the offense was and argue about where Willis should have thrown the ball on his final attempt. What we REALLY need to discuss is the fact that Minnesota got the ball at the end of the 3rd quarter – running one play in the 3rd – went on a 14 play drive to get a FG, leaving Miami with 6:41 on the clock. Miami went 3-and-out and that’s bad. But Minnesota got the ball back with 5:48 left and proceeded to end the game with a 10-play drive that should have ended with a TD, but they had 3 more plays to kneel out the game. Miami’s offense was bad. But Miami’s defense allowed Minnesota to run 26 plays – 26 FREAKING PLAYS – and burn 14 minutes in the FOURTH QUARTER ALONE!!! We can whine about the OL and QB play and all of that until the cows come home. But another easy way to help the QB is for the defense to GET. OFF. THE. FIELD! That was an embarrassment.

I don’t see many opportunities for wins on the schedule this season and this game was one of them. The Dolphins squandered it away and now come home to face a much better offense in the Bengals. More on that later in the week. Anyway, there seems to be a couple of bright spots every week, even in the midst of negativity. They just need something to bring it all together. Anyone have a cardboard cutoff of Rachel Phelps?