The Miami Dolphins sat out the Week 6 action of the 2026 NFL regular season before getting back to work Monday looking to bounce back after an 0-5 start.
While stats often can be deceiving stats, we've come up with 10 numbers that help explain the winless start along with some analysis as to how to move those numbers in the right direction.
10 KEY NUMBERS THE TELL THE STORY OF THE 0-5 START
29.5 — That's the gap in completion percentage for Malik Willis from his 2025 season with the Green Bay Packers (85.7) and his first five games with the Dolphins (56.2)
Nobody should expect a full-time quarterback to come close to an 85 percent completion rate, but 56 percent isn't good enough and Willis can help himself by simply being willing to accept and take the safe, short completions.
10.1 — That's Willis intended air yards per pass attempt, according to Pro Football Reference. That figure leads the NFL, with Lamar Jackson second at 9.8.
This goes right to our first point. The Dolphins maybe need to stop taking shots down the field with a less-than-stellar wide receiver group.
3.2 — That's the average yards of separation for Malik Washington, which is the highest figure of any Dolphins player. That figure is tied for 35th-best in the NFL. The next-best Dolphins player in that category is tight end Greg Dulcich at 2.6, all the way down to tied for 79th in the NFL.
And this number illustrates, only in part, the issues with the wide receiver group.
3:09 — That's the Dolphins' rushing average on first-and-10 rushing attempts, tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for second-worst in the NFL, with only the Green Bay Packers doing worse.
Ollie Gordon II is coming off two productive games in relief of De'Von Achane, so maybe this number will improve organically after the bye without having to make any kind of schematic adjustments.
3:09 — That's Ollie Gordon II's NextGen Stats efficiency number, which measures the yards ran per yard gained, with the lower the number the most North-South the runner is. Gordon's figure is second-best in the NFL behind only the 3.01 of the Chicago Bears' Kyle Monangai.
This is what we're talking about with Gordon ... maybe the Dolphins need to give him more first-down carries.
76.0 — That's the completion percentage allowed by the Dolphins, which is on track to set a dubious NFL record. The record currently belongs to the 2016 Detroit Lions at 72.7 percent, according to StatMuse.
We get that part of Jeff Hafley's defensive scheme involves a willingness to give up short completions, but at some point the coverage needs to tighten up, particularly if the pass rush doesn't start getting to the quarterback.
4 — That's the number of sacks for the Dolphins through five games, their lowest total at this stage since at least 1981. They had five sacks in the first five games of 2019.
And that brings us to this, though it's never all about sack numbers but also affecting the quarterback. And the Dolphins have come up short on both ends. This might require more blitzing, which will leave the secondary more vulnerable to big plays, but getting nickel-and-dimed to death as they were against Cincinnati last week might not be much better.
41.27 — That's the Dolphins offense's third-down conversion rate, 12th-best in the NFL through Week 5. The only time since 2010 the Dolphins have finished a season with a higher conversion rate was in 2023 (the 11-6 season) when they were at 42.08.
Imagine how much better it could be if the Dolphins did better with their first-and-10 rushes. This also is one positive for Willis in the midst of all the criticism (some of it warranted) thrown in his direction.
34.1 — That's the kickoff return average allowed by the Dolphins, which puts Miami dead last in the NFL. It's on pace for the Dolphins' worst showing since 2023 when they finished 32nd by allowing 30.5 yards per kickoff return.
The Dolphins have used 53 different players on special teams, and the only way this gets better is continuing to churn the roster to find answers because we're thinking (at this point) it's not a schematic issue.
0 — That's the number of leads the Dolphins have held this season, one short of the NFL record of six games to start a season without a lead, a mark that belongs to the 2005 Houston Texans.
And we close with maybe the most painful stat of all, and will repeat our suggestion from last week that the Dolphins should elect to receive if they win the coin toss. Yes, it's usually preferable to defer to be able to potentially get the back-to-back possessions, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And there are times when playing with a lead or a deficit changes game strategy. And it would be nice for the Dolphins not to be chasing the game all the time, like they did against Cincinnati when they won the toss, deferred, gave up an 81-yard kickoff return and were down 7-0 before a minute of game action had expired.
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