Thanks to a strong showing from the defense, the Miami Dolphins prevailed over the rival New England Patriots and opened the season 1-0.

Just like last year.

Fortunately, there are some differences worth celebrating between yesterday’s 20-7 smackdown and last season’s 17-16 squeaker. Miami’s defense dominated from start to finish, securing multiple takeaways. This time, Tua Tagovailoa played a much cleaner game. This time, Miami’s offense looked like the far more explosive unit, even if they did only score 3 points in the second half.

However, as Dominic Toretto once said, it doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning is winning, and this is a similar start to last season. Starting 1-0 feels great, and it’s only the second time since 2017 that the Dolphins have been able to pull that off. Doing so by beating a rival makes it even better.

But that was all true last year too…and Miami went on to lose their next seven games.

The last time Miami started 1-0 and made the playoffs? That would be 2001. So while you obviously want to start with a win, it would also be foolish to get carried away with sixteen games left to play on the schedule. The running game was still terrible. Tua did only throw one TD. Plus, the Patriots might just be terrible. They’re certainly the weakest opponent the Dolphins will face the rest of the month.

Still, the defense really did dominate. Jevon Holland had an interception, and Jaelan Phillips recovered a fumble. That’s two takeaways from two young players the Dolphins need to see take the next step in 2022 if their defense is going to become truly elite. Xavien Howard was still a beast. Mac Jones is a pretty good quarterback and was unable to make the Dolphins really feel Byron Jones’ absence. Oh, and Melvin Ingram made his presence felt, getting into the backfield and even scoring the touchdown after Jones the safety knocked Jones the quarterback into next week and stripped the ball away. This unit could be all kinds of fun to watch this year.

And as for the offense? See the above paragraph for how much that offense honestly needed to do yesterday. Miami’s defense actually outscored the Patriots in the first half. It’s a new playbook, a new offensive system. It’s also far and away the most extensive in-game action these players have seen together, as the Dolphins played it extremely safe in the preseason when it came to playing time for their starters. Miami’s offense did not play their best game, yet still, beat an opponent by double digits. Oh, and they have Tyreek Hill now- who looked every bit as awesome as advertised in an 8-catch, 94-yard debut.

Bottom-line, fans are perfectly justified in feeling much more confident in this season-opening victory than they did after last year’s Week 1 triumph. But it’s now up to the Dolphins to make last year’s slow start a distant memory, rather than a weekly reminder a comeback is possible.