BY Mike Rifkin
The Dolphins lost to the Patriots at home 33-27 going to 0-2 on the season. This season is on the brink of disaster as the Dolphins head to Buffalo to play the Bills on Thursday night. The last time the Dolphins won in Buffalo was Christmas Eve 2016. That game was so long ago the Dolphins Quarterback was Matt Moore, and Running Back Jay Ajayi ran for 206 yards. Buffalo is the last place a team trying to find itself should want to go, but it could also be the end of something.
If the Dolphins get embarrassed by the Bills and there’s a chance it’s the last game Mike Mcdaniel coaches. With the loss on Sunday Mcdaniel fell to 28-25 in his career and 0-2 in the playoffs. In fact the Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000. Now Mcdaniel did sign an extension carrying him through the 2028 season, but we all know in the NFL that these things happen. But here’s my question : Whether Mcdaniel is in Miami or not, what’s the direction of this team? When they made the playoffs, they collapsed in the second half of the season and ultimately fell short, and took advantage of weaker opponents. When they played teams better than them they got obliterated most of the time.
Mcdaniel is not the only one on the hot seat in Miami, there are two other people on that seat along with him. The first is the GM who hired him Chris Grier and the other is his Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Let’s start with Grier, who has been in the organization since 2000 and the GM since 2016. Grier has hired three coaches in his tenure Adam Gase, Brian Flores and Mcdaniel. But he’s yet to find the solution at Quarterback, something the Dolphins have been searching for since Dan Marino left.
Which leads us to Tagovailoa, who has three touchdowns and three interceptions through two games so far this season. The biggest question for Tagovailoa has always been his availability. He’s had multiple injuries that have forced him into missing time, primarily concussions. There’s an out in his contract between 2026 and 2027. There’s been questions about Tua since his days at Alabama, and while there have been times he’s been great, they always move the goalpost for him. But over the last year and a half his play has dipped and fans are ready for this team to win in the playoffs.
The worst thing to be in sports is in the middle, and right now not only are the Dolphins in the middle, they are closer to the bottom, than they are the top. Until there’s a direction and some stability in the organization, they can figure out what to do. Is this an overreaction to two games? Maybe, but it’s been a feeling over the last season plus that this team has gotten the best they are of this era.
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