MIAMI GARDENS — It’s been a long time since the Miami Dolphins have played in their home stadium.

When the Dolphins kick off against the Kansas City Chiefs at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, it’ll be 30 days since they last played there in the preseason finale and 273 days since the last home game that counted in the standings.

If a Dolphins fan were completely oblivious to everything that happened in those nine months, that person may not recognize the 2026 team.

There’s a new general manager (Jon-Eric Sullivan), new coach (Jeff Hafley), new quarterback (Malik Willis) and a slew of new players and assistant coaches.

Those who have been around and know No. 1 is no longer Tua Tagovailoa but wide receiver Jalen Tolbert and former star wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle’s No. 10 and 17 now belong to rookie linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Trey Moore, respectively, still have seen a lot transpire since they last saw the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.

Miami is already 0-2 to start the season going into its home opener after road losses out west to the Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers before hosting the Chiefs (2-0), who have won three Super Bowls with their current core of coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones.

“It’s the first home game. Get out and support the team. Make it loud,” Hafley said this past week, as his message for fans ahead of the Week 3 home game. “We got a team that’s young, that’s giving everything that they have, and I can’t wait to get them in the stadium and give it everything that we have for the fans and for the city. I wish we had already played a game at home. It feels like forever, and I’m fired up to be in there.”

While the Dolphins are double-digit home underdogs against a perennial contender that’s hungry after a down 2025 season, this first season under a new regime is more about building a culture and process than measuring success by wins and losses.

Even in a 35-13 defeat last week against the potent 49ers, Hafley found some building blocks with his rookie-laden roster.

“One, when you turn on the tape, there’s an element of toughness in how hard we’re playing that jumps off the tape, and I hope everybody sees that,” he said. “Every person I’ve talked to in this business, whether it’s a coach, whether it’s a scout, whether it’s somebody from an opposing team, a coach from another team, it jumps off the tape and that’s really important to me. We have to establish that and we have to build off of that.”

That effort was consistent from the first half, when Miami was still in the game with San Francisco, and the very end of the game as the score got out of hand.

“The last couple plays of the game on both sides of the ball, they’re playing just as hard as they did on the first,” Hafley continued. “Those are things that we can control.”

Simply playing hard isn’t going to appease any Dolphins fans who are going on Year 26 without a playoff win, though. Miami has a lot to correct through its winless start.

The young secondary is experiencing breakdowns in coverage off miscommunications. That’s not a good sign before Mahomes comes to town, with Kelce and wide receivers Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy.

Defensive coordinator Sean Duggan said players and coaches alike have taken responsibility for those mishaps as the unit tries to correct them.

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To have missed assignments on the back end, leaving pass-catchers open, is not a good combination with the lack of pass rush up front. The Dolphins don’t have a sack through two games and rank dead last in the league in pressure percentage. Edge defender Chop Robinson’s return from concussion protocol this week could provide a boost.

“His energy he brings, his speed, his quickness off the ball,” Duggan said, “you can definitely feel it and it’s fun to see him back out there.”

One good thing going for the defense is it was better against the run last week against 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. That will be needed against Chiefs tailback Kenneth Walker III, who leads the NFL in rushing through two games.

Offensively, Miami will want to build on its own run-game success it found in the first half last Sunday in Santa Clara. Running back De’Von Achane’s 62 first-half yards on the ground allowed the Dolphins to dominate time of possession and stay in the game until halftime. Achane has averaged 151.7 scrimmage yards in his three home openers to this point in his career.

But the emphasis this past week was on red-zone efficiency to cap those long drives with touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik pointed to how the offense is leading the league in penalties and sacks after crossing midfield. That combination is killing drives and needs to be corrected.

And then there are special teams blunders every week. Against San Francisco, it was veteran punter Bradley Pinion simply dropping the ball before he could kick it away. It came as the 49ers had already tacked on two touchdowns to their lead in the third quarter and quickly led to another score with the field position surrendered.

The September heat and humidity of South Florida can often benefit the Dolphins, after practicing in it all training camp, against visiting teams, but it may not be enough to overcome the opponent in the heavily favored Chiefs on Sunday.

Roster moves

The Dolphins elevated edge rusher Clelin Ferrell and linebacker Liam Anderson from the practice squad Saturday ahead of Sunday’s game.

Miami used its third and final practice squad elevation for Ferrell. If the team wants to bring him up again, it will have to sign him to the 53-man active roster. Anderson is up again after he spent last Sunday on the active roster, was subsequently waived and brought back on practice squad after clearing waivers.

With wide receiver Caleb Douglas out, the Dolphins opted against elevating either Jalen Reagor or AJ Henning from the practice squad. They have Jalen Tolbert on the roster, eligible to be active Sunday after he was a healthy scratch in Weeks 1 and 2.

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