Dolphins Week 6 Power Rankings Roundup

How the national media stacks the Miami Dolphins after their victory against the New England Patriots

New England Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins (21) and safety Dell Pettus (24) tackle Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert (31) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins ended their three-game losing streak when they defeated the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, but their victory wasn't particularly overwhelming.

That was reflected in the national view of the team following the 15-10 victory that moved their record to 2-3, with the win barely affecting their averaging ranking in national power rankings.

Based on our survey of NFL power rankings from 10 national outlets—Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, NFL.com, The Ringer, USA Today, The Sporting News, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, and Bleacher Report — the Dolphins dropped an average of almost three spots.

The Dolphins' average ranking went from 27.8 to 27.0, with a high of 24 (two outlets) and a low of 29 (Yahoo, USA Today). The Dolphins stayed in the same spot in three different rankings, and actually dropped one spot in the Bleacher Report rankings.

Here's the breakdown of the Dolphins' ten power rankings spots heading into Week 5 of the 2024 regular season, along with the associated commentary.

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MIAMI DOLPHINS POWER RANKINGS

Sports Illustrated

• Ranking: 26
• Last week: 27
• Analysis: The gruesome win over the New England Patriots comes at an ideal time. Depending on the result of Monday’s Bills-Jets tilt, the Dolphins could walk back into the AFC East in an ideal position to chip away at the division leader with a healthier roster. Odell Beckham Jr. has returned and, while we don’t know anything about Tua Tagovailoa yet, could the bye week give Mike McDaniel a chance to find himself a better QB option? Veterans like Joe Flacco and Andy Dalton are cooking right now. I’ll bet Ryan Tannehill has something left in the tank and has been successful in an offense with similar roots.

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Pro Football Talk

• Ranking: 27
• Last week: 28
• Analysis: 

A win is a win even when it doesn’t feel like one.

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CBS Sports

• Ranking: 28
• Last week: 28
• Analysis: Finding a way to win an ugly game at New England was big for this group. They are still way too limited on offense.

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NFL.com

• Ranking: 28
• Last week: 30
• Analysis: The good news is that the Dolphins found ways to generate some offense with their third-string quarterback in Sunday'swin over New England, even if the passing game had plenty of dud plays and early penalties set them back. DespiteDe'Von Achanebeing ruled out in the first quarter, Miami found a way to run for 193 yards, largely thanks to rookieJaylen Wrightand veteranRaheem Mostert. Wright had his breakout game, rushing for 86 yards (+21 yards over expected, per Next Gen Stats), with most of his production coming after halftime. He had runs of 12, 17 and 16 yards and showedimpressive physicalityin the process. Miami's defense also did what it had to do after a slow start. That said, what is going on with the special teams?A blocked punt, a missed field-goal try plus a penalty prior to an aborted FG attempt all came in the first half. Against a better team, the Dolphins probably lose.

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The Ringer

• Ranking: 24
• Last week: 24
• Analysis:  I’m usually pretty good at watching games without having any demonstrable reactions, but when quarterback Tyler Huntley threw an early interception, I couldn’t help but groan aloud. After the last couple of weeks, I couldn’t stand to watch this team putz around, waiting for its opponent to end the misery. Things weren’ttoo muchbetter in Sunday’s win, but the passing game was finally functional again and all of the misdirection unique to this scheme seemed to be working. The outlook hasn’t changed yet, but things aren’t as sad as they once were.

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USA Today Sports

• Ranking: 29
• Last week: 30
• Analysis: For all the focus on their quarterback issue, they've scored a league-low 60 points (after scoring 70 in one game last season) – which, admittedly, gets back to their quarterback issue, one that may be temporarily stabilizing with Tyler Huntley.
  
  

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The Sporting News

• Ranking: 24
• Last week: 24
• Analysis: The Dolphins don't get style points for putting together enough offense to beat the Patriots, but it was a key confidence-building win given some suddenly shaky vibes for Mike McDaniel.

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The Athletic

• Ranking: 28
• Last week: 31
• Analysis: Tyreek Hill, who was drafted third on average, is averaging 10.74 fantasy points per game. That’s his lowest average through five weeks since 2019, when he played only six snaps in Weeks 1-5. The good news is it appears Tua Tagovailoa will return this season. The bad news is running back De’Von Achane, who is Miami’s leading fantasy player (13.98 ppg), left Sunday’s game after hitting his head on the turf.

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Yahoo! Sports

• Ranking: 29
• Last week: 30
• Analysis: The Dolphins got a win, have the bye in Week 6, don’t have a terribly hard game in Week 7 against the Colts and could get Tua Tagovailoa back in Week 8. Even if Tagovailoa returns to a 2-4 team, Miami would have enough time to get back in the playoff race.

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Bleacher Report

• Ranking: 27
• Last week: 26
• Analysis: One ugly win over an even uglier New England Patriots team is not going to save Miami's season. And the Dolphins made every effort to lose Sunday, whether it was a blocked punt, two missed field goals, a bad snap that knocked Miami out of field-goal range or two turnovers and six penalties. Against even an average team, that would have gotten Miami beat. But to their credit, the Dolphins gutted it out—and now they will hit the bye week just one back of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.