“There Were Some Issues..”: Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel Counts Unaccounted Factors After Huge Blow by Buffalo Bills

The Miami Dolphins crashed out of the NFL playoffs in the super wildcard round after the close-fought 34-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills. And it seems like the magic of No 3 is working for the Bills Mafia. However, the Dolphins made a few costly errors to add fuel to the magic. And head coach Mike McDaniel was blatantly responsible for one of them.

Tyreek Hill and Co were without their first-string QB Tua Tagovailoa who missed out because of concussion protocols. And it proved to be a blow for the birds as their promising season came to an unexpected end. McDaniel botched a crucial fortune-changing play call, causing a 5-yard game delay penalty. However, he strongly believed that wasn’t the only reason.

Mike McDaniel attempted to justify his monumental error

In the post-game press conference, McDaniel surely missed Tagovailoa as he discussed the loss at the Highmark Stadium on Sunday night. However, when questions came about the delay in game restart that led to the penalty in yardage, the Dolphins HC had a lot of reasons to cite.

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“There were issues within the huddle about communication, and getting to the line of scrimmage. The last [delay] in particular had to do with. Whether it was officials or coaching, some communication that we had gotten first down. So we were deploying our players for the 1st-and-10 call. And then it was articulated that no, it’s fourth down. That’s miscommunication,” Mike McDaniel stated to the media personnel.

“I had gotten convicted information that it was a first down. I don’t really know exactly who it was from. It’s probably the first time all year that it happened. It was a piece of the reason why we were unable to win, but it definitely wasn’t the only reason,” Mike added.

The sound levels were surely a factor in the decision-making

The Bills stadium was buzzing on Sunday night. And it got loud at times, loud enough for major communication errors on the Dolphins’ sideline. Even the Bills camp had to restructure their calls, conforming to the explosive energy of the crowd.

Mike McDaniel also blamed the extremely loud cheering of the Bills fans as a major factor in the lack of proper communication among sideline staff, coaches, and players. “Crowd noise that had to do with mishearing some digits from the wristband,” Mike said.

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Overall, the fans were proud of the job McDaniel achieved in his first year at Miami. They started the season strong and made the playoffs despite numerous injury troubles towards the end. And with Tua fit next season, the bird-gang fans surely expect another run for more playoff success and perhaps the Lombardi Trophy.