Miami’s best chance of winning Sunday’s wild-card game against Buffalo evaporated when the offense took a delay of game penalty that turned a fourth-and-1 into a fourth-and-5.
Rookie QB Skylar Thompson threw an incomplete pass on the longer fourth-down conversion attempt and the Bills won, 34-31.
Indecision cost Miami against Buffalo. Despite the positive strides the organization made in 2022, head coach Mike McDaniel’s lack of decisive action sunk the Dolphins’ season long ago.
McDaniel deserves praise for getting the Dolphins ready for a game few expected to be competitive. Miami came close to pulling off one of the biggest wild-card upsets in recent memory and that’s due in part to McDaniel’s offensive scheme.
Miami is in great shape to make another run to the postseason next year with McDaniel as head coach.
As ESPN’s Ryan Clark noted on Twitter, it’s not unreasonable to question the Dolphins head coach for the lack of communication that prevented the team from pulling off the upset.
The apparent lack of urgency in the waning moments of Sunday’s game was common to the Dolphins this season. After jumping out to an 8-3 regular season record and looking like a threat to win the AFC East and host a playoff game, Miami (9-8) dropped five in a row.
With the team in desperate need of a spark late in the season, one was hard to find. An article by The Athletic’s Mike Jones after the team’s fifth consecutive loss argued McDaniel waited too long to switch up things.
Per Jones:
“McDaniel believes his true God-given gift is his ability to solve problems and position people for greatness. If ever the Dolphins needed this type of assistance, it’s now. Heck, they could have used it when this slide began with losses to the 49ers and Chargers, before the loss at Buffalo and the collapse against Green Bay.”
Had McDaniel figured something out sooner, perhaps Miami wouldn’t have lost five games in a row and would have found itself in an easier game than it found itself in against Buffalo.
As much as the team missed QB Tua Tagovailoa after he suffered a season-ending concussion in Week 16, it’s worth noting that Tagovailoa played in four games during the five-game skid. His injury can’t be used as a scapegoat for McDaniel’s inability to figure out a way to get his team out of such a deep funk.
Miami’s record ping-ponged back and forth as
often as the team moved a literal ping-pong table from its locker room.
McDaniel didn’t have answers for his team’s late-season drop in the standings, and he didn’t have one for the wild-card game’s biggest moment, either.
McDaniel gave the Dolphins little reason to doubt he was the right choice for the head coaching position; he looks like a home run hire. But much like players are expected to improve year-to-year, McDaniel also has room to grow.
Miami should be a trendy Super Bowl pick next season. Whether the Dolphins meet their lofty goal will be up to McDaniel to decide.
