Hall of Fame head coach offers a scathing review of Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins in the aftermath of Miami’s 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns

He knows what it is supposed to look like better than most.

Kyle Crabbs — NFL National Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel offers high praise for Josh Allen after the Bills' week 3 victory.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel offers high praise for Josh Allen after the Bills’ week 3 victory. Miami Dolphins official YouTube (@MiamiDolphins)

Bill Cowher knows what championship football looks like. He knows what quality football looks like, just as he knows what complementary football, sufficient football, and even bad football looks like. What we saw Sunday from the Miami Dolphins would qualify for none of the above. And Cowher, who is still involved on game days with the CBS Sports crew, offered his thoughts on what we saw from the Dolphins in Week 7 on Sunday evening.

It’s about as damning an assessment of the state of affairs as you can have. And no matter what Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel says about his team’s leadership and culture, the assessment starts with him.

Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Cowher hits the nail on the head with the 2025 Miami Dolphins

Sep 30, 2019; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher walks around the field before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field.
Sep 30, 2019; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher walks around the field before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

“I think we said it at halftime, ‘It’d be interesting to see how they came out at half (against the Browns)’. This was a game that — they’d been very competitive in, to be quite honest with you, these losses throughout the first part of the season. The second half of that game, they looked almost disinterested. They looked deflated; they looked almost like there was nothing left in the tank. Almost disengaged. I’m just talking the way I saw it.”

— CBS Sports and Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Cowher on the Dolphins in Week 7

These types of takeaways from games are important. When we start hearing things like this, it could be a signal of change rapidly sweeping up on the horizon.

Worst Miami Dolphins losses of the
Mike McDaniel era (…so far?)

  1. 31-6 defeat to Cleveland Browns (2025, Week 7)
  2. 28-27 defeat to Tennessee Titans (2023, Week 14)
  3. 59-19 defeat to Baltimore Ravens (2023, Week 17)
  4. 33-8 defeat to Indianapolis Colts (2025, Week 1)
  5. 31-12 defeat to Tennessee Titans (2024, Week 4)

NFL insiders have been persistent in recent weeks that as long as McDaniel has the team playing hard and they don’t quit, team owner Stephen Ross wants to be patient with this season. But losses like this? Stack a team that was boiling in turmoil this past week after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s post-game comments in Week 6, and you have a situation that could (should) be coming to a head.

Sunday against the Browns was as embarrassing a loss as McDaniel’s team has endured. It wasn’t a good team putting a thumping on Miami. It was a 1-5 team with rookies leading the way at quarterback, running back, tight end, and as their leading tackler. And they completely outclassed Miami in all of the basic elements of a football game, in general, and playing a game in the elements.

Miami, to Cowher’s point, looks like it wanted to go home. The life is gone from this football team. And that means someone else should probably be gone, too.

Related Articles