Poup's Perspective: Why This First Dolphins Win Indeed Was a Very Big Deal

No, the Miami Dolphins are not suddenly going to make a playoff push because they got off the schneid and got their first victory of the 2026 season Sunday.

Or let's just say it's extraordinarily unlikely because we never want to say never.

And, yes, that elusive victory did come against the New York Jets, an organization about as dysfunctional as any in the NFL, as evidenced by the fact it's got the longest playoff drought (appearance, not win because that one belongs to the Dolphins).

But, make no mistake, it was cause for celebration, not just for the players and coaches who have been working hard under difficult circumstances to become at a minimum competitive and it most definitely was cause for celebration for anybody who cares about the Miami Dolphins.

WHY THE WIN WAS BIG ... AND WHY EVERYONE SHOULD WANT MORE

The video of the Dolphins' locker room celebration was something, capturing the kind of excitement you normally see when a team clinches a playoff berth or even more.

But it actually was similar for the Dolphins and not just because it was Jeff Hafley's first win as an NFL head coach.

It was the first tangible reward for the vision that Jon-Eric Sullivan and Hafley have implemented, with strong performances by quarterback Malik Willis and members of a 2026 draft class that has looked promising from the start, with Kadyn Proctor, Chris Johnson, Jacob Rodriguez, Caleb Douglas, Will Kacmarek, Chris Bell and Michael Taaffe all contributing to one degree or another to that 28-25 win against the New York Jets.

In that Dolphins video, we saw Hafley talk about asking his offensive linemen about going for it on that late fourth-down to clinch the victory and making the call to proceed after getting the response he wanted.

Truth is, it was the only acceptable response from the big guys up front because the second an offensive lineman suggests at that time it would be more prudent to punt and let the defense hold the lead, that's the time to replace the head coach, that offensive lineman or both.

We still like the idea of Hafley there showing he was going to trust his players to deliver after they accept a challenge, and that's a big part of what this season is for the Dolphins.

Growth.

Progress.

Jets or not, the Dolphins played their best game of the season Sunday and just like that any talk of an 0-17 season disappeared.

That it was there in the first place only was evidence of just how massive a rebuilding project the Dolphins undertook by dumping so many high-end players and taking on so much dead cap space in one year.

But the Dolphins, with Sullivan in charge, sure look like they've done a pretty good job of restocking the roster, to the extent that they could do it in the first year with their cap restrictions.

As we've said before, this 2026 season for the Dolphins isn't about wins and losses, it's about progress and developments and being able to identify a nice group of young players with whom the team can move forward as part of the nucleus.

At this point, it sure looks as thought the Dolphins have a decent number of those core pieces to keep watching and the hope is we'll see more performances like we saw against the Jets.

That absolutely includes Willis, who accomplished more against the Jets by actually trying to do less — if that makes sense. It probably wasn't an accident that he was more efficient than in any other previous while not going downfield nearly as much.

Look at Willis' stat line against the Jets and you'll notice an uncanny resemblance to that of his second start with the Green Bay Packers in 2024.

Against the Jets on Sunday: 14-for-21, 208 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 130.7 passer rating, 37 rushing yards, 1 TD

Against the Titans in 2024: 13-for-19, 202 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 120.9 passer rating, 73 rushing yards, 1 TD

That was just one game, of course, and the key will be for Willis to do it again and then again after that.

And if there are more games like from Willis, there will be more wins.

And then the first 2027 draft pick will get lower and lower, and the same goes for more performances like we saw from Douglas or Taaffe or Ollie Gordon II or Greg Dulcich.

And that should be the goal for the Dolphins and the hope for Dolphins fans.

If the Dolphins can go, say, 5-12 and have to settle for eighth or ninth overall pick, it would be more favorable for the future health of the franchise than going 2-15 or 1-16 and having the second or even first pick.

The difference between two picks within the top 10 isn't nearly as significant as having found a group of key pieces with whom to move forward.

The win against the Jets was big. And the hope should be there are more to come, even if they're not that frequent.

The focus needs to stay on the 2026 season, not the 2027 draft. And that's how it should have been all along.