The Miami Dolphins needed points fast while facing a 28-3 deficit against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter of Monday night's loss.
That would usually lead to a team running a hurry-up offense in order to try and score points as quickly as possible to make up such a deficit.
Instead, the Dolphins showed zero urgency. Miami kept going into the huddle, making substitutions and taking its sweet time in general, even after the team's offense started showing some life.
It was a bizarre thing to see, especially for a team fighting for its playoff life and a head coach in Mike McDaniel who might be fighting for his job.
Even NFL Hall of Famer and ESPN announcer Troy Aikman slammed the Dolphins for their lack of urgency late in the contest.
“I’m flabbergasted with what we’ve witnessed in this fourth quarter with the Dolphins and now they want to call timeouts?” Aikman said. “It is about as ridiculous a fourth quarter as I’ve seen in a long time.”
Naturally, McDaniel was asked about that after the game and his response didn't make any sense and was bizarre, to say the least.
“Ultimately, I knew based on the amount of possessions we needed we were going to have to convert more than one on-side kick, so the focus was getting us into the end zone," McDaniel said, per Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald.
It's great his focus was getting the Dolphins into the end zone, but he needed to do it multiple times, and quickly, which is why the lack of a hurry-up offense was so strange.
We can't even blame the players, as it's McDaniel's call to go into the hurry-up, not theirs. What we saw on the field was the sign of a coach giving up. There is no other logical explanation for the decision McDaniel made.
With three games left in the season, it's clear to maybe everyone but owner Stephen Ross that the Dolphins need a change at head coach.
Whether or not Ross makes it remains to be seen.
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