MIAMI GARDENS — It’s must-win time for the Miami Dolphins and coach Mike McDaniel.
Saturday night’s playoff matchup at Kansas City is not just a game, it’s a referendum on the two-year Mike McDaniel era.
I like McDaniel. He’s creative, quirky, innovative, intelligent, funny, smart, quick-witted, upbeat and positive. He’s a good guy.
But let’s be crystal clear: if the Dolphins lose their first-round playoff game, McDaniel’s seat should be uncomfortably warm during the offseason.
This playoff game isn’t the final judgment on McDaniel, but it’s a crucial, pivotal checkpoint on him, his methods, and his team.
McDaniel has improved as a coach, but not enough.
McDaniel is 20-15 (.571) overall, including an 0-1 mark in the playoffs.
More importantly, the Dolphins are 4-9 (.308) under McDaniel in December and January.
Most importantly, the Dolphins are 3-11 (.214) against teams that have made the playoffs the last two years.
Those are under-achieving numbers for such a talent-rich team.
It makes you ask yourself, “What has this team actually accomplished under McDaniel?”
I’m not being an alarmist. This isn’t click bait, overreaction Monday, or an attempt to get in front of an issue that doesn’t exist.
This is real talk.
Here’s the better way to look at things: a victory on Saturday night salvages the entire season.
A victory on Saturday at Kansas City keeps the McDaniel era worthwhile and relevant. It would provide credibility, optimism, and a heaping spoonful of offseason excitement regardless of how the second-round playoff game would end.
A victory on Saturday validates almost everything McDaniel stands for and has been preaching.
It would be a testament to one of his favorite sayings, “Adversity is an opportunity.”
A loss and those are just hollow words, no more significant than anything ex-Dolphins coaches Joe Philbin, Adam Gase or Brian Flores ever said.
Oh, and one other thing…
For the record, there’s absolutely, positively no way McDaniel should be fired during the offseason if the Dolphins lose to the Chiefs. That’d be ridiculous. It’s out of the question.
However, owner Steve Ross and general manager Chris Grier might have to get some offseason concessions from McDaniel (a receiving tight end, a more physical running game, revamping the challenge process?), some assurance a change or two will be made.
Why?
A loss on Saturday night would cap one of the greatest collapses in Dolphins franchise history.
Based on expectations, this might be a greater collapse than 1993 when Miami was 9-2 and lost its last five to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs. They remain the only team in NFL history to start 9-2 and miss the playoffs.
At the start of December this Dolphins team, which led the league in offense and scoring, and had six Pro Bowl selections, was 9-3.
Three weeks ago this Dolphins team was 11-4 and had Super Bowl expectations while coming off a rousing 22-20 victory over Dallas.
Now, they’re simply hoping to limp into Kansas City and break a season-long trend of getting smoked by quality teams.
McDaniel has the best offensive talent the franchise has had in, what, 30-some years?
The Dolphins have a franchise quarterback (Tua Tagovailoa), a future Hall of Fame wide receiver (Tyreek Hill), the best young wide receiver in franchise history (Jaylen Waddle), a record-setting running back (Raheem Mostert), a Pro Bowl fullback (Alec Ingold) and a Pro Bowl left tackle (Terron Armstead).
They had 10 of the 11 projected offensive starters coming out of training camp (all except left guard Isaiah Wynn) either named to the Pro Bowl squad or named a Pro Bowl alternate.
And the offense can’t score against quality teams.
We know the Shanahan offense works in other places.
We don’t know why the McDaniel offense doesn’t work here.
You know my theory, however.
I think the entire offense is based on Tyreek Hill, and the threat of Tyreek Hill, and when those two things are neutralized, the offense has nothing left.
Whatever the case, for now, for the purposes of this offseason, it all comes down to one game.
Win this one, and people can see the light, a way out of the three-decades of Dolphins darkness.
Lose this one, and that “same ’ol Dolphins” refrain will live again.
It’ll have been two more seasons without a playoff victory, two more seasons of disappointment, two more seasons of getting surpassed and outclassed by teams such as Buffalo, Baltimore and Kansas City.
We all like McDaniel.
But Super Bowl windows don’t stay open for long.
If the Dolphins lose at Kansas City on Saturday, it’s time to start questioning when, and whether, their Super Bowl window under McDaniel will be opened.
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January 09, 2024 at 12:41AM
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Chris Perkins: If Dolphins lose Saturday, Mike McDaniel will certainly be on the hot seat - South Florida Sun Sentinel
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