The Miami Dolphins lost to the New England Patriots, and in iconic Dolphins form. From bad luck to injuries, and from bad calls to penalties, the Dolphins again were ill-prepared for a critical game, while having their playoff destiny completely in their control.
What should have been a playoff intense approach, turned into another dud for the Dolphins, and showed that the Mike McDaniel hire is a flop, and the early success a mirage.
The Dolphins once again beat themselves with penalties, which has been a theme the entire season, and derailed them again. But, the Dolphins again were hit with false starts and illegal shifts, and had to burn timeouts because of McDaniel's excessive motions pre-snap. Being too cute with his play-calling and scheming.
The Dolphins headed into San Francisco with an 8-3 record and now sit at 8-8.
McDaniel's schemes have been figured out. Exposed. Defeated.
McDaniel, though, has failed to adjust, and has failed to deviate from a extreme "player friendly" and jokester approach, and much like their coach, the Dolphins play exemplified that approach and attitude.
McDaniel has also failed to stick to, or consistently utilize, a running game. Check out their stats thus far in 2022 (h/t PhinPhinatic):
- Rush Attempts: 22.4 (32nd)
- Rush Yards: 95.3 (27th)
- Yards per carry: 4.3 (20th)
- Rush play %: 27.8% (26th)
The Dolphins have elite talent on this team, and while many fans will argue that injuries played a large part in derailing a promising season, a legitimate point, Miami cannot allow another misstep with a title window seemingly open.
However, this doesn't just fall on McDaniel, it falls on general manager Chris Grier as well.
Grier has been at his post for a few head coaches, and despite his blockbuster trades, especially when gutting the team for a rebuild, he has historically ignored linebackers, running backs, and depth at offensive line.
Grier has bargain bin shopped, and simply ignored these key positions in the draft, and when he does use the draft to fill those positions, he has flopped (see Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg).
However, now they enter a must-win game against the New York Jets, where it appears that either Skylar Thompson or Teddy Bridgewater will be under center for Miami, and that doesn't invoke a lot of confidence.
"I haven't even thought about [Tagovailoa's] playing status. It's about him getting healthy each and every day," McDaniel said, according to ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques. "And so I can't really even factor him into any sort of equation until we're ready to broach that. It's just really a situation of, at this point in the week -- Monday and Tuesday game prep -- I'll be preparing for both Skylar and Teddy, and then proceed as the week progresses."
Many Dolphins fans will chalk up another late-season collapse and critical game flop as just "the Dolphins being the Dolphins", but the organization needs to take a strong look at the roster, the elite talent it has, and realize that the time is now.
And when they do come to that realization, they need to act fast.
What would you do if you were a decision maker within the Dolphins organization?
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