One of the Dolphins’ most avoidable problems of the Mike McDaniel era resurfaced at the worst possible time in latest letdown against the Steelers
The more things change, the more they apparently stay the same.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Miami Dolphins, with a chance to provide a statement of legitimacy late in the year against a playoff contender, came up woefully short and embarrassed themselves on national television. It’s an all-too-common theme for the Dolphins under Mike McDaniel.
But the latest loss, a 28-15 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, apparently offered another familiar gaffe that’s been a common theme across much too much of Mike McDaniel’s tenure with the team as the head coach. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, after the game, lamented how prepared his pass catchers were to line up and play against the Steelers. If it sounds familiar, it should.
One of the Dolphins’ biggest points of frustration under Mike McDaniel reared its head again in loss to Pittsburgh
“I’m pretty disappointed with how ready I got our receivers, in terms of operation, in terms of guys knowing where to line up, and communication when it comes to personnel. That’s something I harp to guys when we’re in our own player-led meetings, and I felt like I let our guys down in that aspect.”
— Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after Miami’s 28-15 loss to Pittsburgh
This is, sadly, nothing new for the Miami offense. It’s been the root of a number of operational penalties, burned timeouts, and frantic pre-snap operations over the course of the last several years. But the fact that we are continuing to see these issues spring up is pretty disheartening, given that this year’s group is 14 games into the season. This is nothing new. Some names, like Jaylen Waddle, have been in this offense since 2022. Others, like Malik Washington and Cedrick Wilson, have spent multiple years in the system.
For Miami, in Week 15, to continue wrestling with preparedness with alignment and communication is, frankly, inexcusable. And it should go down on the ledger as a negative of note as we weigh out the pros and cons of head coach Mike McDaniel’s tenure with the team. Miami’s player led meetings may not have provided the final support the receivers needed — but if this issue is persisting across multiple years and continuously more time on task, it’s probably fair to question if the complexities are “too much” to allow the team to play fast. As the competition improves, that can be a unit’s undoing. It appeared to contribute to the issues on Monday night.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s first three quarters versus Pittsburgh Steelers
- 6/10 passing
- 65 passing yards
- 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
- 39.6 passer rating
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