Omar Kelly: Dolphins' minuscule margin for error will always be the problem

Omar Kelly, Miami Herald on Oct 13, 2026

Published in Football

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MIAMI — It was one of those “Are you kidding me,” plays that we’ll probably remember for a lifetime, a candidate for catch of the year in the NFL.

Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Miami Dolphins second-year cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. are running stride for stride towards the end zone.

They each leap in the air at the deep ball Joe Burrow threw to Chase on a post pattern.

Marshall gets his fingers on the pass, preventing the ball from being caught cleanly. But Chase pins the deflected pass against his shoulders, and then brings it down for a one-handed 45-yard touchdown grab that put the Bengals up by 18 points in the final minute of the third quarter in Miami’s 31-24 loss to the Bengals.

“That was a great catch,” Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said, critiquing his defense. “But we should have had two people there.”

That catch wasn’t just the play of the day, the game-clincher since it gave Miami a three-score deficit in the fourth quarter. It also illustrates the difference between where a veteran team like the Bengals and inexperienced one like the Dolphins are as a franchise.

Chase, a premier player, caught a pass from Burrow, a legit franchise quarterback, and there was little about it the Dolphins could do.

“When you can push the ball down the field with the guys that we have, and we can buy that kind of time, you see what No. 1 can do whenever the ball’s in the air,” Burrow said about the lone deep ball Miami’s had caught on them all season. “Obviously, unbelievable play. We don’t want to take it for granted, but we’re used to [from Chase] at this point, you know?”

The expectations are there for the Bengals, which remodeled their defense and offensive line with the goal of making another Super Bowl run during the Burrow era.

If health doesn’t become a factor, Cincinnati should be a contender in late December.

What are the expectations for the Dolphins right now?

Miami lost its top offensive player, Pro Bowler De’Von Achane to a season-ending knee injury last month, and has played the past three weeks without the team’s top receiver, rookie Caleb Douglas, who is nursing an ankle injury he sustained in Week 2.

Miami’s offense is ranked 31st in the NFL in scoring (14 points per game), and the struggles are raising concerns about Malik Willis, and if he’s capable of serving as an NFL team’s starting quarterback.

This new Dolphins regime committed to paying Willis $45 million during the next two seasons, gambling on his upside, and heading into this week’s bye he’s the NFL’s worst-rated quarterback who has made more than 50 attempts.

“We need to be better. Malik needs to be better. But that’s not the headline. We all need to be better,” Hafley said, addressing an offense that averages 280.2 yards per game (ranked 27th). “It’s the receivers, the tight end and the protection. It all has to tie in.

“This is a team game,” Hafley said, shortly after including the coaching staff in the finger-pointing. “We all need to be more efficient and be better.”

Miami hasn’t had a lead in any of the first five games this season. Not a single second.

Special teams had had a sprinkling of errors — like the game-opening 81-yard kickoff return Miami allowed — hindered that unit’s performance each week.

And Miami’s defense has struggled to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks for all but one game, and opposing quarterbacks have a 115.0 passer rating when facing the Dolphins, which ranks Miami 30th in the NFL, leading only the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals.

That’s not good, and are clearly issues that need to be evaluated, if not fixed during this bye week.

Hafley said everything will be examined, and nothing is off the table. But exactly what can this talent-deprived, and inexperienced team do but continue to poach other teams’ talent, like last week’s addition of former Penn State tailback Kayton Allen, a 2026 sixth-round pick who was waived by the Washington Commanders late last week and claimed by Miami.

If Miami’s lucky, maybe Allen becomes an upgrade over some of the other backup tailbacks once he learns Miami’s offense, and the Dolphins have found something salvageable.

That’s what the remaining 12 games of this season is about, identifying and investing in what’s salvageable.

So far this doesn’t feel like competitive football.

The Dolphins’ margin for era is so miniscule they would either have to play a perfect game to win on Sundays, or Miami’s opponent would have to gift-wrap them points, possessions and drives, much like they do each Sunday.

The Bengals came close on so many occasions, but when clutch performances were needed, that’s when Burrow and Chase put on their capes and played superhero.

If only the Dolphins had someone, anyone who could come to this team’s rescue.

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