Winless at Home, Dolphins Host Battered Lions and the NFL's Top-Ranked Offense

The 1-6 Miami Dolphins return to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday still looking for their first home win of the season, and the opponent is one of the NFL's most productive teams. The Detroit Lions (5-2) visit Miami Gardens for a 1 p.m. kickoff riding a three-game winning streak and carrying the league's top-ranked offense, but they arrive badly depleted on defense after a week dominated by a frightening neck injury to linebacker Jack Campbell.

Detroit is favored by roughly a touchdown, with ESPN listing the Lions at 6.5 points and The Associated Press at 7. CBS is carrying the game, according to the AP and MLive, though some earlier schedules listed it on Fox.

Where the Dolphins stand

Miami sits last in the AFC East under first-year coach Jeff Hafley, and its lone win came Oct. 25 at the New York Jets. The Dolphins are 0-3 at home, and they have scored 117 points in seven games, an average of under 17 per game. The last four results, though, have all been one-score games, a point MLive's Lions preview raised in noting how close Miami has played lately.

Miami's results so far, from ESPN's schedule:

The most recent loss came last Sunday, when Drake Maye accounted for three touchdowns in New England's 24-19 comeback win. WPTV reported that Hafley told reporters when the team returned to practice this week that he is disappointed with the record but focused on daily improvement, and that he sees his players competing with physicality and toughness.

Hafley, Campbell and a shared blueprint

The game carries an obvious subplot. Lions coach Dan Campbell went 5-7 as Miami's interim coach in 2015 before building Detroit into a contender, and this is his first trip back to South Florida as a head coach since then, MLive noted. Campbell famously said after his 2021 hiring that his team would "bite a kneecap off" its opponents, according to the AP.

Hafley told the AP he would probably never talk about biting people but that he wants the Dolphins built on the same kind of toughness and grit. Campbell, for his part, said the rebuilding Dolphins remind him of his early Detroit teams, which went 3-13-1 in his first full season. "They're young, they're hungry, they're active," Campbell said of Miami, according to the AP.

The youth is real. Miami has the youngest roster in the NFL, and eight Dolphins rookies have combined for 45 starts, the AP reported. Rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez leads the team with 69 tackles, according to ESPN's season statistics.

Willis and the Miami offense

Quarterback Malik Willis has completed 108 of 183 passes for 1,268 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions, according to ESPN. MLive put his average at 181.1 passing yards per game and credited him with 225 rushing yards. Willis was not listed with an injury designation on the Dolphins' final injury report released Friday.

The running game has carried more of the load since De'Von Achane was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Ollie Gordon II has 408 yards and four touchdowns on 91 carries. Malik Washington leads Miami with 31 catches for 329 yards.

Help may be returning up front. Rookie guard Kadyn Proctor, the 12th overall pick in April's draft, is back after missing the New England game with a concussion. The AP noted that Miami ran for only 74 yards without him after topping 100 rushing yards in each of the previous five games.

Three Dolphins are listed as questionable: running backs Jaylen Wright and Kaytron Allen, both with quadriceps injuries, and edge rusher Malik Herring, with a neck injury, according to the team's report.

A dangerous offense, a battered defense

Detroit's offense averages 395.4 yards and 29 points per game, according to the AP. Jared Goff has thrown for 1,964 yards with 15 touchdowns and one interception, and he has thrown a touchdown pass in 30 consecutive games, the NFL's longest streak since Patrick Mahomes' 31-game run from 2019 to 2021. Jahmyr Gibbs has 773 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, and Amon-Ra St. Brown has 53 catches for 571 yards and five scores.

St. Brown is questionable with a rib injury, according to reports on the Lions' final injury report. The defensive list is longer. Detroit ruled out Jack Campbell (neck), safety Kerby Joseph (knee), cornerback D.J. Reed (hip), edge rusher DJ Wonnum (concussion) and center Cade Mays (ankle). Defensive back Brian Branch, who had been limited with a concussion, was a full participant Friday and carries no game designation.

Campbell, an All-Pro, was carted off the field early in the fourth quarter of last week's 19-15 win over Minnesota. In a statement Wednesday, his first comments since the injury, he said he has full movement in his lower body and is continuing to make progress with movement in his upper body, the AP reported. Dan Campbell said the team's way to honor the linebacker is to be locked in for Sunday.

Miami's defense ranks 16th in the league against both the pass and the run, according to the AP, but its pass rush is tied for 30th in sacks. Chop Robinson leads the team with four. Goff was sacked four times in the first half against Minnesota last week before the Lions protected him in the second half and rallied.

Series history

The franchises rarely meet. Sunday is only the 14th game between them and the first since Oct. 30, 2022, when Miami won 31-27 in Detroit. The Dolphins lead the all-time series 8-5, according to the AP.

Salute to Service in Broward

Former players from both teams got an early start on the weekend. WPTV reported that Dolphins and Lions legends, including retired Detroit offensive lineman Lomas Brown and Nat Moore, hosted 50 active-duty service members in Lauderhill on Friday as part of the NFL's Salute to Service program. The service members ran 40-yard dashes and took part in throwing and shuttle drills.

What's next

A win would give Miami its first victory at Hard Rock Stadium this season and a second straight competitive showing against a winning team. A loss would push the Dolphins to 1-7 heading into consecutive road games at Indianapolis on Nov. 15 and at Buffalo on Nov. 22. For Detroit, the stakes are standings-driven: the Lions sit third in a crowded NFC North behind Minnesota (6-1) and Chicago (6-2), and are chasing their first four-game winning streak since early last season.