Colts prove Mike McDaniel is far from an offensive genius in brutal Dolphins loss

The Miami Dolphins didn't do any favors for returning starter Tua Tagovailoa. Sunday's 16-10 loss to the Colts left the Dolphins with two wins and four losses, proving that Miami's problems are a lot deeper than the signal-caller.

If affection toward Mike McDaniel was starting to wane, it should be all but gone after Sunday's abysmal performance. At no point did the offense look like it had a game plan, and McDaniel could do nothing but stand on the sideline and call bad play after bad play.

To put this all into context, the Dolphins were down six with a little more than a minute left in the game. With no timeouts, McDaniel wasted one when the Colts schooled him on 4th-and-goal, he opted to run plays designed for high percentage completions for minimal yardage.

The Dolphins took no real shots at the sidelines to advance the ball and save time on the clock. This was the microcosm of the entire game. Miami ran the ball effectively all day. De'Von Achane ran for 77 yards, but disappeared in the second half. Raheem Mostert ran for 50 yards, but he too was left on the sidelines at times. When the Dolphins started to move the ball in the second half, the fresh legs of Jaylen Wright ran five times for 33 yards. Yet when the Dolphins were facing a 3rd-and-1, they gave the ball to Alec Ingold on a fullback dive?

Mike McDaniel appears to be over his head as an NFL head coach

The passing game was simply bad. Miami's quarterbacks were 15 of 26 for 149 yards and Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill combined for two catches. Making that worse is that they were only targeted four times combined.

There is no reason the Dolphins offense is this inept. Defenses have figured out McDaniel's system and he has no answer for it. Taking out Hill and Waddle has crippled McDaniel's play-calling and this is not something that is likely going to change when Tagovailoa comes back.

It might get better, but the reality of the Dolphins' situation is this, until McDaniel gives up on this complicated offense, they are going to fail. It was great over the last two years, but much like the Wild Cat, teams now know how to beat it and it doesn't matter who the QB is.