The Miami Dolphins were thoroughly destroyed on Sunday by the Indianapolis Colts. The final score was 33-8 and anyone who watched it knows it wasn’t even that close. I watched it on RedZone and even I had a clear vision of the carnage. Scott Hanson probably struggled to even find room for the Dolphins in the occasional octobox.
Head coach Mike McDaniel said exactly what you would expect him to say the Monday after such a stomach-turning loss. He made his point while utilizing his signature dry humor (compared to NFL head coaches in general, McDaniel is Don Rickles).
“I would say the good news is, I don’t see how it could be worse,” McDaniel said.
He then did something very uncharacteristic: he called out a player (sort of).
“I’ll give an example…just so you guys know, I don’t make a habit of putting family business out at the podium,” McDaniel continued. But, for example’s sake, there was one play that ultimately led to being an explosive that the utmost dependable player, Zach Sieler — in an attempt to get a sack at the final stages of pass rush, kind of voids his pass rush lane.
“Well intentioned, trying to make a play, but the dropping of rush lanes allows for an explosive that you have to learn with new teammates, play with them, and lean on them, and trust them.”
McDaniel says his Miami Dolphins got “punched in the mouth”
As one could understqnd, McDaniel is incredibly frustrated by this loss. While he’s talking about the game yesterday, you know he’s running through months and months of thoughts that go back to January (maybe even further). They probably involve Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey, but I can’t confirm that.
“I think, to be honest, the positive is that (it) was a miserable experience. It was embarrassing, flat out and in that there’s nowhere to hide…I was really looking forward to see, to seeing the stuff that we’ve really worked on diligently, and I didn’t see any of it, and that’s a problem,” McDaniel explained.
McDaniel seems to have been holding this thing together with duct tape in the last year. From injuries to Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback, Hill saying he wants out of town, Ramsey saying he’s happy to be on a team now that respects the head coach, McDaniel has had his share of distractions to deal with. This Week 1 loss was the culmination of a lot of that.
Mike McDaniel doesn’t think the Dolphins are playing as a team
Based on McDaniel’s comments, the Dolphins‘ players are trying to do too much individually and not enough with the thought of the team in mind. If I didn’t see one snap of that loss to the Colts, but just saw the final score and you said that’s what happened, I’d believe that one thousand percent.
“It was tough to get punched in the mouth like that, because it was not a result of lack of intent…there’s a lot of guys out there trying to make plays, all things equal, that’s not necessarily a bad, villainous thing to desire,” McDaniel said. “However, when your your mind isn’t focused on your exact responsibilities as it relates to your teammates, and when you’re not playing…collective team football, where you you are doing your job, and then one or two players on the field get to make the play. There’s a cost.”
Before the season many thought this whole Dolphins thing could go one of two ways. They could pull all of that talent together and surprise the NFL world, or it could go south very quickly. It’s only one week, but this smells like the latter.
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