The Miami Dolphins hung around with the Detroit Lions for the majority of their Week 9 matchup, meeting their physicality, but ultimately losing late. This All-22 review showcases two sides of the ball that had polar opposite outcomes in this 19-9 loss.

WHAT THE WEEK 9 FILM REVEALED FOR THE MIAMI DOLPHINS

Physicality Sets the Tone

Miami’s front seven had potentially their best game of the season against a Detroit Lions offense that went into the game as the league leader in EPA per pass attempt. The Dolphins logged a pressure rate of 35.5%, which ranks 11th in the NFL in Week 9. That number becomes more impressive when you consider that they blitzed the least of any team in the top 12, per NextGenStats.

Chop Robinson’s quickness from a wide-nine alignment limited the depth of the pockets, as he quickly left Jared Goff’s sightline and had the bend to threaten him to move up or outside. Miami’s other defenders finished the job, as Josh Uche finished the game with multiple plus reps, and Zeek Biggers had one of his most complete games as a pro.

The Rookie’s First Pick

Pressuring Jared Goff made everything easier on the back end, where, as Jeff Hafley described in his Monday presser, Miami had its best game disguising and getting to their landmarks at the snap.

One of the early turning points in this game came on a pre-snap look where Miami kept their intentions close to the vest. All 11 players were within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, a rarity in Hafley’s defense so far this season.

However, at the snap, Michael Taaffe bails out to cover a deep half, and Miami drops out into what looks like Cover-6. While Dante Trader, who is tasked with covering Amon-Ra St. Brown, gets to his assignment late, Zach Sieler is able to get immediate pressure, forcing Jared Goff to step up and throw the pass a beat late. Josh Uche, noticing Goff climb, wins on an inside move, doesn’t allow the QB to finish his follow-through, and the ball floats to Chris Johnson for his first career interception.

It wasn’t always perfect in this game, but Miami played a brand of complementary football that we really haven’t seen this season, and that started up front. Against the run, the linebacker duo of Jordyn Brooks and Jacob Rodriguez played up a weight class, matching the physicality of anyone who tried to block them, while the 2025 draft trio of Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers all helped string out runs and keep Jahmyr Gibbs to 3.7 yards per carry.

Then, the stunts from Sieler, Biggers and Uche, combined with outright wins from Chop Robinson, either rushed Goff’s decision-making or afforded the backend the opportunity to get set and attack passing windows that they previously weren’t able to. This game was truly a revelation as to what Jeff Hafley’s defense can look like against an elite offense when everything is operating smoothly.

Dead On Arrival

For as strong of a performance as the defense had, the Dolphins’ offense was an exercise in Murphy’s law. They had eight offensive penalties (five of which were 10-yard holding calls), Ollie Gordon averaged under 3.5 yards per carry, and Malik Willis was pressured on nearly 40% of his dropbacks at the ninth-quickest average time to pressure of Week 9.

On the 16 individual second downs the Dolphins faced in this game, their average yards-to-go was 11.06, and they only saw second-and-7 or less on THREE of the 16 instances. Miami’s game script was completely wrecked, and Detroit was able to pin their ears back, dedicate bodies to the back end, and have a field day against Austin Jackson when he was left one-on-one.

Miami finished this game with the second-worst rushing success rate (23.8%) of Week 9, pending Monday Night Football. That number more than halved on first down, where they were successful on just one of their 10 rushes.

As for the root cause, it’s hard to point to one particular player or concept. Miami failed to get real knockback on their power concepts, and Jonah Savaiinaea and Kadyn Proctor both struggled when tasked with targeting players in space. Patrick Paul was stonewalled multiple times, and DJ Herman whiffed on a block that could have sprung an explosive run. Aaron Brewer made multiple nice reach blocks, but outside of him, it was a performance that the rest of Miami’s blocking contingent would probably like to forget.

The right side of Jonah Savaiinaea and Austin Jackson is probably the most concerning when judging whether Miami is set up for future success. It’s been a few straight down weeks for the former, who was given more pulling assignments than usual, and, as I mentioned, struggled mightily. Jackson, on the other hand, has consistently been one of Miami’s poorest performers (aside from the Week 7 win against the Jets) and hasn’t played well enough in a contract year to warrant consideration as a franchise right tackle.