If Mike McDaniel was going to convince Stephen Ross that he deserves another season with the Miami Dolphins, he may have thrown his hands up and quit during Monday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Dolphins had one of the worst third quarters of their coaching career, and entered the fourth down by 25 points. What he did next wasn't something the Dolphins owner should be thrilled with. In fact, he just sent the owner a message that he quit.
Facing playoff elimination and possibly his own job, McDaniel's offense walked through the fourth quarter like they really didn't care.
Mike McDaniel just gave Stephen Ross a reason to fire him as the Dolphins head coach
Normally, when a team is facing the daunting task of a comeback, the team lines up offensively in a no-huddle, fast-paced game plan. Miami didn't. They took their time, continued to use up the play clock, and meandered to the line of scrimmage. Precious time ticked away, and you wouldn't have thought Miami cared.
McDaniel took his time getting the plays into the huddle while Tagovailoa took his time getting his offense to the line. Meanwhile, tick, tick, tick.
It took two meaningless scores for the Dolphins' head coach to finally attempt an onside kick. It was too late, the game was over.
If McDaniel was hoping to keep his job, his white flag attempt in the fourth quarter should have been enough to convince the owner that this isn't who should be running his team, and just as many fans were softening on the idea of his return.
Miami can't be a killer when they can't attack a game they are losing badly as it matters. Monday mattered to the Dolphins, and it mattered to the fans, aside from Jordyn Brooks, who never gave up.
ESPN's Troy Aikman said it best late. He couldn't understand why, after the Dolphins walked through the fourth quarter without a care. Suddenly, Miami was calling timeouts when the clock was under four minutes, but by that point, a victory was completely out of reach.