Things we learned in Miami Dolphins’ 35-13 loss at San Francisco 49ers

· Yahoo Sports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The rebuilding Miami Dolphins traveled to San Francisco on Sunday after spending the past week on the West Coast, but the wise planning didn’t do them any good as they lost, 35-13, to the 49ers.

Miami (0-2) hung tough in the first half, clinging to a 16-3 deficit, but the scoring onslaught came quickly in the third quarter as the 49ers scored 21 unanswered points to take charge of the game.

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Life gets rougher for the Dolphins next week as they host the Kansas City Chiefs in their home opener.

Here’s what we learned Sunday:

Malik Willis is OK

Quarterback Malik Willis (13 of 22, 120 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, four sacks, 74.1 passer rating) looked decent once again. He didn’t look great, and he might have looked good. But he was decent. He hade good decisions on when to throw, when to throw it away and when to run. He put the offense in good positions, for the most part, and didn’t repeat mistakes.

Willis also didn’t wear his bedazzled shoes (he wore white shoes) and seemed to tie the laces, which isn’t the case with the bedazzled shoes. Willis’ only “bad” throw might have been when he had a high and hard incomplete pass to wide receiver Malik Washington in the first quarter.

Willis’ lone touchdown came on a 74-yard pass to wide receiver Ryan Miller with 2:30 left in the game. — Chris Perkins

Coaching is so-so

Coach Jeff Hafley and his staff didn’t correct the penalties and special teams errors that plagued Miami in the opener at Las Vegas. Many of those same problems came back to bite the young Dolphins on Sunday. Dolphins coaches must teach the players how to correct those errors and the players must take those teachings into the game. It didn’t appear that that happened this week.

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Life without Chop/pass rush

The pass rush had no sacks on 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (20 for 22, 287 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, 149.1 passer rating). None of the edge rushers — Josh Uche, Malik Herring, Clelin Ferrell or Robert Beal Jr. — managed to put ay meaningful pressure on Purdy.

Edge rusher Chop Robinson, who sustained third concussion since October during Wednesday’s practice and was inactive for the game, ran some sprints on the field before the game. But even if Robinson, who has 10 sacks in two-plus seasons, returns next week the pass rush situation might not improve drastically. This will be an issue all season.

Run game rises and falls

The Dolphins rushed for 102 yards on 29 carries, but they had 85 yards on 20 carries in the first half. The first half total was impressive after rushing for 74 yards on 18 carries in last week’s 27-13 loss at Las Vegas. But the second half total (nine carries, 17 yards) was disappointing.

The offensive line of center Aaron Brewer, rookie left guard Kadyn Proctor, left tackle Patrick Paul, right guard Jonah Savaiinaea and right tackle Austin Jackson must be better in the run game.

Achane touches increase quickly

Running back De’Von Achane (20 carries, 74 yards, 3.7 yards per carry) had 17 first-half touches for 81 yards. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said he wanted Achane to exceed the 14 touches (11 carries, three receptions) he had last week, and he did. Achane ended with 23 touches for 93 yards.

Douglas has a drop, then a reception, then an injury

Rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas, who had five receptions for 94 yards last week, had a key drop on third and 15 from the 49ers’ 39-yard line. Douglas (two receptions, 19 yards) was hot and cold in training camp and preseason and one of the main culprits was dropped passes. Douglas ended the 49ers game with one reception for 11 yards on a fourth-quarter catch. Not long after that, Douglas went down with what appeared to be a left leg ailment. He walked to the sideline with trainers and went into the blue medical tent on the sideline.

Offensive line penalties

The Dolphins, who had eight penalties for 61 yards last week, ended with seven penalties for 50 yards and many were on the offensive line.

Jackson had a false start vs. edge rusher Nick Bosa in the first quarter. The Dolphins also got called for an illegal formation penalty. Then, on third and four, Proctor got flagged for a false start to make it a third and nine that resulted in a nice 23-yard completion from Willis to wide receiver Malik Washington.

But penalty problems came back. Jackson, who had trouble with Bosa, was flagged for holding in the third quarter. Brewer was called for holding in the fourth quarter.

49ers penalty is biggest play of first half

San Francisco linebacker Keion White kept the Dolphins in the game early. He had a roughing the passer penalty on Willis on third and six at the Dolphins’ 41-yard line with 4:34 left in the first half. The 49ers had a 14-3 lead and would have got the ball back with about four minutes remaining in the second quarter, and they received the second half kickoff. It was potentially a big swing.

Instead, the Dolphins kept possession and kicked a 23-yard field goal to cut their halftime deficit to 14-6.

Worse for the 49ers, they took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and scored a touchdown after a four-play, 65-yard drive that took just 1:52, meaning they possibly could have had a 21-3 halftime lead and received the third quarter kickoff.

Special teams issues surface again

Punter Bradley Pinion dropped a snap in the third quarter and the result was a San Francisco touchdown drive that took two plays, went 28 yards and consumed 39 seconds and extended the 49ers lead to 35-6.

But that wasn’t all of the special teams miscues, extending a bad path from last week when they allowed kickoff returns of 45 and 50 yards and missed a 41-yard field goal attempt.

At San Francisco, kicker Riley Patterson, who was 27 of 29 on field goal attempts last season, missed a 51-yard attempt Sunday in the first quarter and now has missed his last two attempts after missing from 41 yards against Las Vegas last week. The 49ers turned the miss into a touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

Kickoff returner Jaylen Wright had a 36-yard kickoff return in the second quarter but he sustained a stinger on the play and didn’t play the rest of the game.

Running back Ollie Gordon II was called for running into the punter early in the fourth quarter but the flag was picked up due to offsetting penalties.

49ers red-zone success

San Francisco was 5 for 5 on its first five red zone possessions through the third quarter. The 49ers were 4 for 4 on third downs at that point. Conversely, Miami was  0 for 2 in the red zone and 5 for 12 (.417) on third downs.

Miami ended 7 of 15 on third down while San Francisco was 5 of 7. San Francisco ended 5 of 5 in the red zone while Miami was 0 of 2.

Jacob Rodriguez has decent showing

Rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who had 14 tackles last week, was quiet Sunday with eight tackles, second-most on the team. He had two tackles through three quarters. Rodriguez, the second-round pick from Texas Tech, got blocked on some plays and overran the hole on a couple of others. There was at least one play in which quarterback Brock Purdy got rid of the ball before a blitzing Rodriguez got to him.

Bell has a drop

Rookie wide receiver Chris Bell, the third-round pick from Louisville, had a quiet day that included a fourth-quarter drop. Bell, whose only game action since a November knee injury came in the preseason finale against Atlanta, had one reception for 25 yards last week. Bell ended Sunday with no receptions on one target.

Could this team threaten a mark for defensive futility set 60 years ago?

In the Miami Dolphins’ inaugural season of 1966, the embryonic team brought down the quarterback only 16 times while trying to pass, or 1.14 times a game in that 14-game season. That stands as the franchise mark for futility. However, the 2026 Dolphins became the second team in franchise history to not have a single sack in the first two games of the season, joining the 1993 edition. However, that team 33 years ago, piled up 16 sacks in the next four contests. — Steve Svekis

The one unit that has had a good start?

The kickoff-return squad has averaged 28.5 yards per kickoff return (313 yards on 11 returns), a number suppressed by a short kickoff in Santa Clara that was taken back to the 29, but on an only 17-yard runback. Leading the charge has been Jaylen Wright with 185 yards in only five returns for a glittering 37.0 yards per return. Unfortunately, Wright exited with a stinger after taking a hard hit up high after his 36-yard return late in the first half. Unfortunately, the vast majority of kickoff returns occur after the opponent scores. Now, every other aspect of the Dolphins special teams have been putrid.

Willis must flip incompletions at the sideline when flushed hard to his left

After a second-and-goal at the 6 against the 49ers, the Dolphins quarterback took consecutive sacks by running out of bounds while rolling to his non-throwing side. Once outside that tackle box, he can shot put/shovel/forward lateral that ball just a few yards to get past the line of scrimmage. And that “pass” can go into the stands. The line of scrimmage goes all the way out there. So, there is literally no reason to ever go out of bounds for a sack in today’s NFL, with all the quarterback protections.

Willis’ feet continue to do work the Dolphins haven’t seen from the position

It bears repeating that in the season opener in Las Vegas, Malik Willis had as many rushing first downs (two) as all the Dolphins quarterbacks had in 17 games in 2025, and more rushing touchdowns (1). And then on Sunday, Willis ran the Dolphins’ first quarterback sneak by an opening-day starting quarterback in more than four years and is on pace for 382 yards for the season. Among Dolphins QBs who have made more than eight starts in a season, 1982 David Woodley has the most rushing yards per game for a Miami quarterback (23.0 a game in those nine games in that strike-shortened season), while the club record total for a season belongs to Jay Fiedler with his 321 in 16 starts (20.1 per game)

Kaleb Proctor’s promising start compared with other Dolphins rookie blockers

By one performance-ratings service, Pro Football Focus, Kaleb Proctor’s blocking performance was the best by a Dolphins rookie in his debut. Other Dolphins rookie offensive linemen the past 10 years:

— Jonah Savaiinaea (2025): 28.4 grade for his rookie season and 53.2 grade in his first start (0 games his rookie year graded at 71.2 or above with a minimum of 40 snaps, with a high game grade of 63.2), 17 games played with at least 40 snaps;

— Patrick Paul (2024): 44.9, 54.5 (0, 54.5), 4 games;

— Liam Eichenberg (2021): 50.8, 58.6 (3, 77.6), 16 games;

— Austin Jackson (2020): 52.5, 53.7 (1, 76.3), 13 games;

— Robert Hunt (2020): 66.0, 68.3 (2, 75.8), 10 games;

— Solomon Kindley (2020): 51.3, 67.1 (0, 69.2), 11 games;

— Michael Deiter (2019): 42.5, 69.1 (0, 70.8), 15 games;

— Laremy Tunsil (2016): 65.8, 70.2 (2, 77.1), 14 games.

A wild talent-differential factoid

Fox’s telecast said that the 49ers owned 55-1 Pro Bowl-seasons gap, the largest such gap in 29 years, since the 49ers played a Buccaneers team it owned a 64-1 advantage against. However, the 49ers lost that game 13-6. The 49ers also boasted 1,866 career starts vs. the Dolphins’ 606 entering the contest.

What a young undermanned team cannot accept in early, when these games are still close

— An Austin Jackson false start on a first-and-10.

— Riley Patterson missing from 51 to give the Dolphins a lead.

— An illegal formation penalty on another first-and-10, to end the first quarter.

— Willie Gay passing off George Kittle for a wide-open touchdown to make it 21-6. Who knows with whom the blame ultimately is placed by coaches, but it was a full-blown breakdown.

There were positives for Kadyn Proctor

Yes, Proctor was tagged with 15 yards of flags, with one a hold on a stunting Nick Bosa, but he was continually pushing the man or the pile on the run game, particularly having the advantage against Osa Odighizuwa. His pass protection is much more raw-looking, but he has refined elements that are encouraging this early on.

How may Douglas fold in vs. other tall receivers in Dolphins history

The Dolphins have had one receiver in their 61-season history with a height of 6 feet 4 or taller who has caught passes for at least 600 yards, and that was Brandon Marshall. Marshall had the most receiving yards in a season of any such Dolphins receiver, with 1,214 yards in 16 games in 2011. In his other season with the Dolphins, in only 14 games, he snagged passes for 1,014 yards (72.4 yards a game). The 6-4 Douglas, with his 113 yards is on a 17-game pace of 960 yards.

Tankathon-ometer

The Dolphins floated up to the seventh pick in the draft (if the season ended before Sunday night’s game). The top 6: 1. Buccaneers; 2. Texans; 3. Titans; 4. Falcons; 5. Chargers; 6. Commanders.

On deck: Kansas City Chiefs, Hard Rock Stadium, Sunday, 1 p.m.

The Chiefs make their first visit  to Hard Rock Stadium since 2020, when Kansas City went 2-0 in Miami Gardens, winning the Super Bowl 31-20 over the San Francisco 49ers in February, and the beating the Dolphins 33-27 in December.

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