Five things to watch for in Dolphins at 49ers on Sunday

It's Week 2 for the Miami Dolphins rebuild and we'll soon see how quickly one-week regular-season progress can be made as the low-expectation Dolphins (0-1) visit the high-expectation San Francisco 49ers (1-0) on Sunday, and the Dolphins have lots of areas for improvement .

Few think the Dolphins will win this game — they started the week as 13 1/2-point underdogs, which is an extreme margin in the NFL — but Miami should be able to shore up some things that went wrong in last Sunday's 27-13 loss at the Las Vegas Raiders .

Here are five things to watch for in Sunday's game:

We'll see how much Miami's top coaches — head coach Jeff Hafley, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, defensive coordinator Sean Duggan and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor — learned about their players last Sunday, and whether they're able to apply that knowledge this week. Players were OK on Xs and Os against the Raiders but in areas such as physicality, tackling, special team assignments, pass coverage and penalties there were numerous errors.

That's understandable. It was Week 1 of a rebuild with a young roster. The important thing is how the coaches guide their players from here. There should be one or two areas of tangible improvement this week, and if not it'll reflect poorly on the coaching.

Run game and run defense success gets into physicality, a major demand from Hafley. The Dolphins rushed for 74 yards on 18 carries and allowed Las Vegas to rush for 130 yards on 37 carries.

Both are bad for a few reasons. Running back De'Von Achane (36 yards on 11 carries) had few holes to run through. That must change and that starts with the offensive line, led by All Pro center Aaron Brewer , rookie left guard Kadyn Proctor and left tackle Patrick Paul , blowing open some holes. San Francisco allowed 122 rushing yards to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, so there's hope for Miami's run game to gain some yards and have sustained drives.

Defensively, the Dolphins must be careful because San Francisco rushed for 174 yards last week led by running back Christian McCaffrey's 68 yards and Kaelon Black's 65 yards. The Dolphins' front seven, led by defensive tackle Zach Sieler , All Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks (11 tackles) and rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (14 tackles, second in the NFL), must be better.

Quarterback Malik Willis (15 of 27, 220 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, 66.9 passer rating) was so-so in his debut . He made good decisions and didn't repeat mistakes, but this week he must advance to making things happen with his legs and right arm. Willis doesn't need to play reckless football but he needs to push the envelope a bit in an effort to find out things about himself and his teammates.

Perhaps Willis needs to throw a pass into a tight window to one of his rookie wide receivers, Caleb Douglas or Chris Bell, as opposed to making the safe pass to sure-handed slot receiver Malik Washington . Again, don't play recklessly, which can lead to turnovers. Rather, take a chance once or twice. This is more about discovery than taking needless risks. But it's a fine line that Willis needs to toe.

This applies offensively, defensively, on special teams, in the locker room, on the bus, in practice, and everywhere else. Physicality can't be stressed enough. This team, above all else this season, must establish an identity, an unyielding quality that exists, win or lose, and Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan have decreed that quality will be physicality.

Hafley said the Dolphins were a bit timid to open the Raiders game. So let's see the physicality this week for the entire game. By the way, this is an area in which the three "pillars" of the rebuild — Achane, Brewer and Brooks along with the team captains — need to energize their teammates.

Who has more tackles — Patterson or Robinson?

Kicker Riley Patterson had two tackles vs. the Raiders while edge rusher Chop Robinson had one . Obviously something is wrong there, and if that repeats it might be an indication of major problems. Robinson, the training camp MVP selection by numerous media outlets, was quiet against the run and pass against Las Vegas. He must come alive in both ways this week the way he did in training camp. The Dolphins need his talent and energy.

Special teams was a troubling area during the Raiders game among allowing two long kickoff returns (45 and 50 yards, Patterson had the tackle on both) that led to touchdowns, a long punt return (23 yards), and missing a 41-yard field goal attempt that might have been tipped. Yes, kickoff returner Jaylen Wright had a 79-yarder but the Dolphins didn't score due to the missed field goal attempt. Special teams must be better this week on both handling their assignments and making tackles.