Don’t expect the Miami Dolphins to have multiple advantages over many teams throughout the 2026 NFL season, but the Las Vegas Raiders are one of the few where they should enter their matchup with some clear edges.

As the two teams prepare to face each other on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. at Allegiant Stadium, here are three areas where Miami should enter the matchup with an advantage.

THREE DOLPHINS ADVANTAGE AREAS

1. The battle on the ground

Miami enters Week 1 with an advantage in the running game on both sides of the ball.

That starts with running back De’Von Achane, who is coming off a Pro Bowl year after finishing with a career-high 1,350 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns, just two seasons after setting an NFL record with 7.8 yards per carry as a rookie. 

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty is no slouch, either, coming off a debut season in which he earned PFWA All-Rookie honors after rushing for 975 yards and five touchdowns. However, the former Doak Walker Award winner will need to make a leap in his second season to prove he belongs in the same conversation as one of the league’s top backs in Achane, and he enters the opener working his way back from an ankle injury suffered late in training camp.

Las Vegas upgraded its offensive line with Tyler Linderbaum, but Zach Sieler, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers give Miami several big bodies capable of blowing up the interior and making life harder on Jeanty.

 The Raiders’ own interior defensive line, built around players like Adam Butler, Tonka Hemingway and late addition Folorunso Fatukasi, doesn’t present quite the same challenge for Achane. 

2. Special Teams: Kicking and return game stability

Last season, Miami found consistency in two areas of special teams that Las Vegas addressed over the offseason, and the Dolphins still appear to hold the advantage.

Kicker Riley Patterson connected on 27 of 29 field goal attempts last season, including all 11 of his attempts from 40-49 yards and 3 of 4 from beyond 50.

 He carried that into the preseason, drilling a 53-yard field goal against the New York Giants.

Las Vegas, meanwhile, moved on from longtime kicker Daniel Carlson and signed Matt Gay, who made just 17 of 23 field goal attempts between Washington and San Francisco last season. His 73.9 percent conversion rate ranked near the bottom of the league, and he went just 4-for-9 from 50-plus yards.

The special teams drop-off is even more pronounced in the punt return game. Miami averaged 13.3 yards per punt return last season, seventh-best in the NFL, while Las Vegas averaged just 6.0, ranking 31st.

Much of Miami’s success came through Malik Washington, who averaged 13 yards per punt return and provided one of the unit’s biggest plays of the season with a 74-yard touchdown against New England. He also averaged 26.8 yards on kickoffs with four returns of at least 40 yards.

The Raiders received better production on kickoffs, but never found the same explosiveness on punts. Alex Bachman averaged just 5.6 yards on 22 returns, while Tre Tucker averaged 7 yards on seven attempts. Las Vegas spent much of the preseason cycling through potential returners, like rookie Malik Benson and free agent signee Dareke Young, but the Raiders enter Week 1 without the same established threat Miami has in Washington.

Malik Willis gives Miami a versatile element Las Vegas can't replicate

Three solid starts over the past two seasons aren’t enough to automatically rank Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis ahead of Raiders veteran Kirk Cousins, but it’s already safe to say Willis can impact a game in more ways.

The most obvious difference comes with his legs. Across two seasons in Green Bay, Willis rushed for 261 yards and three touchdowns on just 42 attempts, averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

And now Miami, a team that would have winced at even the idea of a designed run with its quarterback just a year ago, has already implemented them throughout training camp.

That could be especially useful against All-Pro Maxx Crosby. 

Instead of allowing one of the league’s best pass rushers to crash downhill every snap, Willis’ ability to keep the ball on designed reads should force Crosby to stay disciplined on the edge.

In the air, he offers Miami the advantage in terms of overall arm talent, but he’s also shown an ability to take care of the football. Across his two seasons in Green Bay, he threw six touchdowns without an interception, while largely avoiding costly mistakes throughout his first training camp in Miami.