The Miami Dolphins' season-opening loss to the Las Vegas Raiders was a sobering reminder of the growing pains that come with a full organizational rebuild.
The Dolphins are carrying roughly $183 million in dead cap money this year, and absorbing that hit means that in addition to leaning on young players — 10 starters on Sunday were in their first or second NFL season — a lot of their depth will come from players with little proven NFL production.
That makes Sunday's 27-13 loss somewhat expected.
Miami's young secondary was exploited by veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, both lines were overmatched physically, and the offense was inconsistent. But coach Jeff Hafley said he was encouraged by his team's effort.
“Disappointing because we lost. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I walked off the field happy,” Hafley said. “The fight was there. I mean, that game could have gotten out of hand with some of the mistakes we made, some of the points that happened, and it didn’t.”
Malik Willis showed promise in just the seventh start of his career. The former Green Bay backup finished 15 of 27 for 220 yards and an interception, showing his arm talent with a couple of deep passes to rookie receivers Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell.
Willis was under pressure from the Raiders' pass rush for much of the game but showed his athleticism and scrambling ability, finishing with a team-high 39 yards rushing.
“You never want to go out and lose a game, not the first one, but we can’t let it dictate our whole season,” Willis said. “If seasons were meant to be dictated by one game, they’d call it the playoffs. We've just got to continue to learn from it. We've got a lot of young guys, and even the vets — we've got to continue to get better.”
Miami's defense was gashed on the ground by second-year running back Ashton Jeanty, but the Dolphins got a couple of impressive debuts from rookies.
Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez was everywhere on the field and only allowed 5 yards in coverage. Safety Michael Taaffe had an interception.
Rookie cornerback Chris Johnson played every defensive snap and finished with 11 tackles. He was the nearest defender on two of the Raiders' touchdowns, which Hafley said was a result of the safety help not being in position.
“The thing that I’ll say is all those guys, they just stayed so engaged and so positive, and were so locked in,” Hafley said. “They didn’t get down on themselves, they just kept swinging. I think that says that it’s not too big for a lot of those rookies, which is important to see. We’re going to need them to play better football so we can keep going.”
Hafley has said one of the statistics he pays attention to most is turnovers. His defense failed to get pressure on Cousins, with no sacks and just two hits on the veteran, but the secondary managed to intercept Cousins twice in the second half.
The Dolphins gave running back De'Von Achane — arguably their best player — a four-year, $64 million extension this offseason, yet he had just 11 carries. That's not nearly enough, given that the strength of the Dolphins' offense is supposed to be the run game. Achane, who led the NFL with 5.7 yards per carry last season, finished with 36 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
WR Caleb Douglas. The rookie receiver finished with five catches on seven targets for 94 yards.
Offensive line. The entire unit struggled both in run blocking and pass protection. Willis was sacked five times, Achane barely had running lanes and captains Patrick Paul and Aaron Brewer committed back-to-back holding penalties in the second quarter.
Safety Kyle Louis will miss Week 2 after suffering a knee injury in the third quarter.
14 — Tackles by Rodriguez, the most by a Dolphins rookie since Hall of Famer Zach Thomas had 16 against Arizona in the second game of his career.
The Dolphins will not return to Florida this week ahead of Sunday's game at San Francisco, instead practicing in Napa, California.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jack Bech (18) catches a touchdown pass in front of Miami Dolphins cornerback Chris Johnson (3) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis (2) is sacked by Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Nakobe Dean (17) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) pressure Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis (2) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. government watchdog released its first report Monday on the impact of the Iran war, acknowledging the military's advanced weapons shortfalls and offering the first public look at the damage to American aircraft, bases and diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
Much of the information has been previously reported over the past six months, but the Pentagon inspector general's report offered the fullest official accounting so far of the conflict's costs in American lives, taxpayer dollars and physical damage. It included information from the watchdogs for the Defense and State departments as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The report, whose publication was first reported by NBC News, noted that the U.S. war with Iran “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply” in regard to advanced weapons. Experts have previously said it will take about three years for military contractors to replenish advanced missiles and defensive missile interceptors to prewar levels.
The Pentagon has repeatedly pushed back against reports of any munitions shortage, saying the U.S. military has all the weapons it needs to fight any conflict. President Donald Trump said in a social media post Monday that the U.S. is “producing more Exquisite and Elite Weapons than at any time in our History.”
“They are being delivered on a daily basis to our Forces in the Middle East, and beyond,” he wrote.
The watchdog report, which covers April 1 to June 30, also acknowledged that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
It noted that the U.S. naval base in Bahrain, a Navy logistics hub in the region, was targeted with Iranian drones and ballistic missiles. U.S. Central Command had to shift to supply lines to alternate hubs that were much farther away, including Diego Garcia, a U.S.-U.K. base on an island in the Indian Ocean. It required “14- to 18-day logistics cycles" to support operations in the Middle East, the report said.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao acknowledged in an interview with The Epoch Times last week that “they blew the hell out of Bahrain” and said he has a task force looking into whether the Navy would need to repair the base in Bahrain to sustain its forces in the region.
Dozens of American aircraft and drones also were destroyed or damaged by Iran, including the destruction of as many as 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones that cost around $30 million apiece, the report said. Seven KC-135 refueling aircraft were damaged or destroyed, including five that were struck by Iranian munitions while on the ground in Saudi Arabia.
Another KC-135 crashed in Iraq, killing six service members, following a collision with another KC-135. Those deaths, and the death of a pilot of a helicopter that crashed into the Arabian Sea, are listed as occurring during non-hostile events. Eleven other service members are listed as “killed in action” in Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress in late July that the war had cost $37.5 billion so far.
The costs in physical damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities, however, had not been previously publicly released. Such outposts in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were damaged by Iranian strikes, with an estimated cost of $184 million, according to the report.
The State Department reported in early June that its other costs from the conflict came to $113 million, with nearly $80 million used to respond to contingency plans, including evacuation expenses for U.S. personnel and their families as well as other American citizens and eligible third-country nationals.
The State Department reported that in the weeks and months after the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on Feb. 28, the Trump administration evacuated about 9,000 U.S. citizens from countries in the Middle East and Europe. Through private and commercial flights as well as land and water travel, the cost of the department’s evacuation operation was more than $11 million as of late June.
“State determined that consular officers would not be able to fully document travel itineraries required to seek reimbursement from evacuees and therefore it would be impracticable to seek reimbursement from them,” the report states.
The majority of the evacuations were made from Israel, with Iraq and Jordan following shortly behind. While the U.S. only evacuated 1,200 Americans from the United Arab Emirates, those trips to Istanbul, Athens and Washington cost the most, at more than $4 million.
The State Department reported that more than $44 billion in emergency and non-emergency military sales also were made in that span of time, with the majority of sales going to Saudi Arabia. Sales included military helicopters, munitions and munitions support as well as advanced precision weapons system.
Other regional countries, including Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Israel, also received billions in sales, as Iran retaliated against nearly every country in the region that hosted a U.S. military base.
Amiri reported from New York.
FILE - U.S. embassy personnel inspect the damage caused by a bombing in Baghdad, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
