The easiest thing to do when an NFL team starts 0-2 is stare at the quarterback. He touches the football every snap, shows up in every television replay and gets blamed for everything from protection breakdowns to bad weather. But the Miami Dolphins Malik Willis conversation after a 35-13 loss in San Francisco needs considerably more nuance.
Miami’s broader problems were already visible in our Florida NFL Week 2 recap, and the player-level version is even clearer. Willis was not brilliant against the 49ers, but he also wasn’t remotely the primary reason the Dolphins left California winless. The defense could not slow Brock Purdy, the offense repeatedly settled for too little, and Miami had no answer once San Francisco turned a manageable halftime game into a third-quarter avalanche.
The distinction matters because evaluating an 0-2 team requires more than finding the most famous position and assigning blame. For more Florida game breakdowns, the site’s game analysis archive provides the wider context.
Miami Dolphins Malik Willis Stock Should Stay Steady
Willis finished 14-of-23 for 197 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, producing a 103.0 passer rating. His 2026 game log also shows improvement from Week 1, when he threw for 220 yards but was intercepted once and sacked five times.
Let’s be clear: this was not secretly an elite quarterback performance hidden inside a blowout.
Seventy-seven of Willis’ passing yards and his only touchdown came on a late strike to Ryan Miller after San Francisco already led 35-6. Context matters.
But Willis also protected the football, completed better than 60% of his attempts and did not create the kind of catastrophic mistakes that usually explain a 22-point defeat.
Stock: Hold.
The quarterback needs to create more sustainable offense. He does not need to accept responsibility for every structural failure around him.
The Defense Was Miami’s Biggest Week 2 Problem
Here is the statistic that should make Dolphins fans considerably more uncomfortable than Willis’ passing total: San Francisco scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions.
Brock Purdy completed 20 of 22 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Miami trailed only 14-6 at halftime, then surrendered 21 unanswered third-quarter points.
That’s not a quarterback problem. That’s a competitive game becoming noncompetitive because one defense could not get off the field.
The official Week 2 game recap shows how quickly the game changed. Purdy found George Kittle for a touchdown, followed with another scoring drive, and San Francisco eventually turned a Miami failed fourth-down attempt into another short-field touchdown.
Miami’s defense never gave its offense a reasonable window to respond.
Stock: Down hard.
De’Von Achane Is Producing Without Getting Much Help
De’Von Achane remains the offensive player Miami can build around.
He carried 20 times for 74 yards and caught three passes for another 19. The 3.7-yard rushing average will not produce highlight montages, but Achane had 14 first-half carries, tying his career high for carries before halftime.
Through two games, his 2026 rushing production stands at 110 yards on 31 carries, plus seven receptions for 49 yards.
That leads to an uncomfortable question: how much can Miami reasonably ask him to manufacture when defenses do not fear enough elsewhere?
Achane remains dangerous. But Sunday’s game showed the difference between having a talented running back and creating an offense that consistently puts that running back in favorable situations.
Stock: Slightly up.
Ryan Miller Supplied the Explosive Play Miami Was Missing
Ryan Miller’s Week 2 box score is hilarious in the most football way possible: one catch, 77 yards, one touchdown.
It was also useful.
Miami entered the fourth quarter without a touchdown. Willis finally attacked vertically, Miller won downfield and the Dolphins produced the kind of explosive play that had been missing most of the afternoon.
The catch did not change the outcome. San Francisco was already in victory formation emotionally, if not literally.
Still, Miami needs receivers capable of changing field position instantly. Miller showed that possibility.
Stock: Up.
Miami’s Week 2 Player Stock Board
The useful evaluation is not simply “good” or “bad.” It is whether each performance changes expectations going forward.
| Player/Unit | Week 2 Production | Stock | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malik Willis | 197 pass yards, 1 TD, 0 INT | Hold | Protected football but lacked sustained offense |
| De’Von Achane | 74 rush yards, 19 receiving | Slight rise | Remains Miami’s most reliable offensive engine |
| Ryan Miller | 77-yard TD catch | Rise | Supplied badly needed explosive play |
| Malik Washington | 4 catches, 43 yards | Hold | Useful underneath production |
| Miami defense | 35 points allowed | Sharp fall | Could not stop Purdy or prevent third-quarter collapse |
Three things stand out:
- Willis needs more drive-to-drive consistency, but his play did not justify making him the face of the loss.
- Achane is receiving a legitimate workload without yet getting the spacing or game scripts needed for his usual explosiveness.
- Miami’s defense has to become functional quickly because no developing quarterback should be asked to chase 20-point deficits every Sunday.
The Chiefs Game Will Tell Us More About Willis
Miami’s next test raises the stakes immediately.
The Dolphins return home to face Kansas City on September 27. That means Willis’ evaluation cannot remain “he wasn’t the biggest problem.” Eventually, an NFL starting quarterback has to become part of the solution.
He needs longer possessions. Miami needs touchdowns instead of field goals. The passing game needs explosive plays before garbage time rather than during it.
But putting Sunday’s 35-13 defeat entirely on Willis would misunderstand what happened.
San Francisco averaged 7.8 yards per play. Purdy barely threw an incompletion. Miami’s defense surrendered three touchdowns in the third quarter alone.
That is where the autopsy starts.
Miami’s 0-2 Problem Is Bigger Than One Quarterback
The Miami Dolphins Malik Willis debate should become more demanding as the season continues. That’s fair. Quarterbacks do not get unlimited patience, especially when losses accumulate.
Week 2, however, was not evidence that Willis sank Miami.
It was evidence that the Dolphins currently need too many things to go right around him.
Achane needs better running conditions. The receiving corps needs more early explosiveness. The offense must finish drives. Most urgently, a defense that allowed San Francisco to score touchdowns on five consecutive possessions has to give its own quarterback a fighting chance.
Willis can play better.
Miami’s problem is that so can almost everybody else.