Just when you start to believe that maybe Mike McDaniel is the solution, not part of the Miami Dolphins' problems, he reminds us that he isn't the right coach for this team.
Monday night in Pittsburgh, Week 15, playoffs on the line, it's what you dream of. But instead, McDaniel delivered a second half so bad that Troy Aikman was nearly speechless and confused. So were all the fans at home.
The Dolphins trailed by two scores heading into the 4th quarter, but losing wasn't the issue; it was what McDaniel did with the limited time he had left to stage a possible comeback.
Miami Dolphins lack of urgency abruptly ended any hopes for their 2025 season
There will be fans who will point out that Tua Tagovailoa led the team on two touchdown drives in the 4th quarter. That isn't a big deal considering they took their time in the huddle, took their time getting to the line of scrimmage, and nearly ran the play clock to zero.
"This is just a bizarre last few series. They don't go hurry-up. Now they're going hurry-up and calling timeouts. It's just, it's hard to understand exactly what the philosophy or what they're trying to do."Troy Aikman
At this point, fans were resigned to the fact that the Dolphins were going to lose, but giving up was not expected. Miami didn't necessarily throw the towel in, but where was the urgency? Literally, their playoff lives were on the line on Monday night, and in the fourth, they looked as though they were practicing.
What makes it more confusing is that after meandering through the first two series, they had the ball in the fourth quarter, they suddenly opted to start calling timeouts to preserve the clock. Why?
"I'm flabbergasted by what we've witnessed here in this fourth quarter with the Dolphins. And now they want to call timeouts. It just is about as ridiculous a fourth quarter as I've seen in a long time."Troy Aikman
It wasn't lost on the Aikman, it wasn't lost on the fans, but was it lost on Stephen Ross? Miami, in a critical game, managed only 15 points against a now 8-6 Steelers team that had been gutted defensively in previous weeks.
The Steelers' game plan was simple: force the Dolphins to beat them with Tagovailoa and take away the run. It worked. Once Miami's rushing attack was grounded, the Dolphins quarterback wasn't able to make the necessary big plays to keep his team alive.
Aikman's comments could just as easily have been said by every Dolphins fan on Facebook, Twitter, or on their couch watching the debacle. That is, unless they turned the game off before the 4th quarter began. Maybe that would have been the better thing to do.