The Big Lesson That McDaniel Still Needs to Learn

Amid all the talk about his job security, Mike McDaniel had himself an impressive day when the Miami Dolphins routed the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, thanks to some key changes and a great play-calling performance.

It was enough to quiet the critics and calls for his job for at least a few days — until the Dolphins face the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night when another loss would reignite the noise.

But there is one area where McDaniel needs to be called out for what happened against Atlanta, and what makes it worse is that it was a repeat mistake.

Very simple: Why in the world was Minkah Fitzpatrick still in the game midway through the fourth quarter when the Dolphins were leading 34-3?

Why?

FITZPATRICK INJURED

For those not aware, Fitzpatrick was injured at the end of a 25-yard completion from Kirk Cousins that led to Atlanta's final touchdown, which mattered not one bit except for the final score.

Fitzpatrick sustained a thumb injury, the extent of which wasn't known as of Monday morning.

But imagine if it's significant enough to limit him against the Ravens or, worse, keep him out altogether.

This is not a player can afford to lose against a Baltimore offense that very well might have Lamar Jackson back in the lineup. We don't have to remind Dolphins fans what Jackson did to the Miami defense the teams faced each (the Dolphins lost 56-19 at Baltimore in December 2023.

THE FIRST MISTAKE

It was in that game on New Year's Eve that edge rusher Bradley Chubb went down with a knee injury that would cost him not only the end of the 2023 season (most importantly the AFC East showdown against the Buffalo Bills and the playoff game at the Kansas City Chiefs.

And that knee injury occurred at a time when Chubb has a zero percent chance of impacting the final outcome before the game already was out of reach. No such thing as mathematically impossible? OK then, he had a 0.000000001 percent chance of impacting the final outcome.

You get the point.

For those who have forgotten the regrettable circumstances, Chubb was injured on a run by Baltimore running back Melvin Gordon on a play where the ball was snapped with 3:18 remaining in the fourth quarter with the Dolphins trailing 49-19.

Yes, 49-19.

Again, why was Chubb, who had 11 sacks on the season, on the field when the cause was lost?

Yes, it was a fluke that he got injured and, yes, injuries do happen, but what's the benefit of having a front-line player at the end of a game that's already been decided.

After that Baltimore game, this is what McDaniel said when he was asked why some starters were on the field with the outcome already decided.

“It’s me," McDaniel began. "I mean, in hindsight, I would absolutely not have one of them out there if I had known that he was going to get hurt, for sure. That’s a known part of the job that I understand fully. It doesn’t look smart at all.

"The thinking behind it is the same as it kind of was last year against this team in this place, where I think we were down 35-14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. When you are as close of a team as we are, and you know the players inside and out, there’s times in football games where it’s not about winning or losing or [if we] can come back. It’s about finishing the football game and having a taste of what our expectations were going into it.

"The team was very confident in themselves going into the game, with good reason. Our expectations fell very short. Hats off to the Ravens for really taking it to us. The guys were very frustrated. The players wanted to go back in and play and finish the right way heading into next week. I have the ability to tell them no on everything in this situation. There’s plenty of decisions that I’ll cross-examine. It’s hard not to. I do that every week. It’s just with the amount of regard that I hold this position and the decisions I do make. The intent is always purposeful, and I made the call that the guys that went out there wanted to be out there."

FLASH FORWARD TO SUNDAY

In the case of Chubb, the Dolphins were getting blown out; with Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins were doing the blowing out.

We said at the time and will maintain that the idea of finishing the game with some positivity is all fine and dancy, but should take a back seat to common-sense prudence. Besides, would Chubb and his teammates really have felt better about getting blown out at Baltimore just because of a positive finish?

This actually might have been worse because what was the justification for having Fitzpatrick at the end of a game where the Dolphins had nothing but reasons to feel great about their performance.

The Dolphins already had lost safety Ashtyn Davis in the game, but they still had plenty of other DBs to finish off the game.

And it wasn't just Fitzpatrick, but Jaelan Phillips also was on the field on that Atlanta drive that began with Miami up 34-3. And Phillips is the edge defender who's played the most snaps.

So, again, why?

It's disappointing that this happened again, and we can only hope this was the last time.

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