The Dolphins Reportedly May Fire Mike McDaniel, Which Would Be Such An Egregious, Idiotic Overreaction
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Rumors are flying all over the place at the minute about what the NFL is going to do scheduling-wise because of Damar Hamlin's horrifying situation that led to the Bills-Bengals game to be suspended on Monday night. One of the reported solutions is adding an eighth AFC playoff team, which would obviously help Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins.
But regardless of what the league decides as they figure out what the hell to do, and whether or not the Fins do, in fact, miss the postseason and lose their sixth straight overall to the Jets on Sunday, McDaniel should not be on the hot seat.
This would be the most Dolphins thing ever. I know Frank the Tank would love nothing more than for the organization to engage in a mass razing and start from Square One. I feel like cooler heads might prevail in Miami and give McDaniel at least another year, because while it has been far from perfect, he's shown more than enough to prove he can handle the job.
Was McDaniel a little too circumspect in speaking about Tua Tagovailoa's concussion issues? Yeah but what do you expect? That's about as impossible of a situation a coach can be in to comment on. Should he have thought a little more critically about what to do with the defense instead of retaining coordinator Josh Boyer? Perhaps. Did McDaniel get a little too aggressive and fail to adjust once Tua caught such fire through the first half-plus of the season? The numbers said so. Just so you don't think I'm a blind McDaniel stan, although I admit I adore the guy.
McDaniel is a hyper-critical self evaluator. He's universally acclaimed for his ability to connect with his players and take their feedback. His schematic genius is cited as a strength by anyone who's been around him. To think someone like that couldn't make the necessary tweaks to come back stronger in 2023 is asinine.
Until Tua suffered his second concussion and threw three subsequent interceptions in Week 17, the Fins had the Packers on the ropes with a 20-10 lead. Their first few losses during this five-game skid were to the 49ers, Chargers and Bills. All on the road. Each of them is a legit Super Bowl contender. Now we're to the point where the QB depth chart is in such dire straits that Mike Glennon had to be signed off the street.
Having a sense of humor whilst being in the playoff hunt under those circumstances as a rookie head coach is an achievement in and of itself.
Realize, too, that McDaniel's renowned rushing attack hasn't gotten going until late in the year, right when the passing game more or less took a nosedive. In addition to cluster injuries on defense, Miami's o-line is banged-up as hell. They rank 20th in run block win rate, per ESPN, and PFF has them 31st in pass blocking.
To still rank sixth in total yards and top-10 in points per game with that deficit in the trenches speaks to McDaniel's coaching ability. Plus, he's elevated a QB in Tagovailoa who everyone wrote off coming into 2022, and produced a passing offense that's seen Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle rank second and sixth respectively in receiving yards. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
So let's pump the brakes, Miami, on firing Mike McDaniel. This guy is one of the best things to happen to your franchise and he's learning some hard lessons on the job. There's still a very real chance that you make the playoffs. Unfortunately, it'll be without Tua Tagovailoa and you'll have to bow out on Wild Card Weekend.
Much of the Dolphins' offseason will be spent agonizing over what to do with Tua given his scary injury history, which is an unenviable spot to be in. I feel like McDaniel is the brainiac who can figure it out. Regardless of who's leading the offense in 2023, if Miami gets even mild improvements on defense and upgrades the o-line, they'll be a real force to be reckoned with as long as McDaniel is still roaming the sidelines and dialing up the plays.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok