Oddsmakers expect the Minnesota Vikings to knock off the Miami Dolphins by 10 or 11 points on Sunday, and if they pull that off, they’ll do it smack dab in the middle of oodles of reunions and revenge angles.
While sportsbooks don’t expect the game to be overly competitive, here’s why Vikings-Dolphins feels oddly personal.
All the Familiar Faces in Vikings-Dolphins
Jalen Reagor on the Practice Squad
Reagor is still kicking around the NFL, and his latest stop puts him directly across from a former team. Miami signed the wide receiver in June before releasing him at roster cuts and bringing him back on the practice squad. He’s remained there through the first three weeks.
Reagor spent the 2022 season with the Vikings after Philadelphia traded him for draft compensation. His offensive role was tiny – – eight catches for 104 yards and one touchdown – – although he also handled punt-return duties.
Miami could theoretically elevate him for Sunday’s game, providing an unexpected reunion with Kevin O’Connell’s team. Reagor hasn’t played an NFL regular season snap since 2024, so nobody should expect some grand revenge game subplot. Still, his presence on Miami’s practice squad is worth mentioning – – just in case.
The 2024 Dallas Turner v. Chop Robinson Debate
Remember this one? When Turner didn’t move the needle as a rookie starter, and Robinson immediately produced six sacks for Miami, some wondered whether the Vikings could’ve simply drafted Robinson and saved themselves the trouble of moving up for Turner. Robinson went 21st overall; Turner had gone four picks earlier.
Well, the argument has aged terribly. Turner followed his three-sack rookie year with eight sacks in 2025, then opened 2026 with 3.5 sacks in three games. Robinson dropped from six sacks as a rookie to four last season, and he’s sackless through two appearances this year.
Robinson certainly isn’t a failed pick, and careers aren’t decided after 34 games, but anybody who used his faster rookie start as evidence the Vikings chose the wrong pass rusher probably wants a mulligan. Turner has emphatically changed the conversation.
Malik Willis and Jeff Hafley v. Old NFC North Foe Vikings
Miami’s new quarterback and head coach arrived from the same place: Green Bay. Willis spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons backing up Jordan Love before signing with Miami in March, while Hafley coordinated the Packers’ defense during those same two years.
Hafley’s connection is the more interesting one. He prepared for O’Connell’s offense twice per year and now gets another crack at it with an entirely different roster. Willis spent those rivalry weeks inside Green Bay’s building, too, even if he wasn’t the quarterback steering the Packers offense against the Vikings. He’s now QB1 for Miami and has thrown for 210 yards in each of his last two starts.
Neither Willis nor Hafley should require much introduction to the opponent this Sunday.
Andrew Van Ginkel v. the Team That Drafted Him
Van Ginkel’s NFL career began in Miami, where the Dolphins selected him 151st overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. He spent five seasons there and started 42 games, recording 17 sacks before leaving for the Vikings in 2024. Even better for the reunion theme: Van Ginkel was part of Brian Flores’s first Dolphins draft class.
Miami certainly got value from the 5th-round pick. The funny part is what happened after he left. Van Ginkel became a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro during his first season with the Vikings, then kept producing in Flores’s defense. He already has three sacks through three games in 2026, including 1.5 against Green Bay in the opener.
Now he gets Miami, with Flores calling the defense behind him. The reunion portion of Sunday’s game doesn’t get much more direct than this.
Frank Smith v. the Team That Moved On from Him
Smith spent four seasons as Miami’s offensive coordinator under Mike McDaniel, serving as one of the head coach’s primary offensive assistants. When Miami fired McDaniel after the 2025 season and hired Hafley, Smith wasn’t retained. The Vikings quickly hired him as assistant head coach, with O’Connell specifically pointing to Smith’s four years alongside McDaniel as part of the appeal.
So, Smith knows quite a bit about the organization O’Connell and friends will see Sunday, even though Miami’s coaching staff has changed a lot. Several players remain from his four seasons there, while the scheme is now Bobby Slowik’s operation.
Smith’s impact on the Vikings has focused heavily on the rushing operation and offensive line.
Brian Flores v. the Team That Fired Him
And then there’s the main event.
Flores coached Miami for three seasons, finishing 24-25 before the Dolphins fired him in January 2022. The decision came after consecutive winning seasons, including a 9-8 finish in 2021 after Miami won eight of its final nine games. Flores later sued the NFL and multiple teams, turning his departure from Miami into a much larger story than a normal coaching dismissal.
He has faced the Dolphins once since then, working as Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach in 2022. Sunday’s version is different. Flores now runs the Vikings defense, and his group has opened 2026 as one of the NFL’s best – – perhaps the best. Miami, meanwhile, enters Week 4 at 0-3.
Four years after the Dolphins fired him, Flores finally gets them with his own defense. Among all the reunions packed into this game, none carries more history.
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VikesNow Verdict: Flores owns the biggest grudge, but Reagor, Van Ginkel, Smith, Willis, and Hafley give Sunday more personal connections than most Week 4 matchups get.
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