Sportsnaut
Mike McDaniel and his Miami Dolphins had a game to forget against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. The Dolphins were destroyed by a score of 33-8, and the offense was especially dreadful.
Head coach Tua Tagovailoa had probably the worst game of his career as he ended with just 114 passing yards with two interceptions and a fumble. The offensive line was terrible as well, allowing three sacks and four tackles for loss, while failing to open lanes for the running backs.
If a team is simply outplayed, that’s one thing. However, looking unprepared, disinterested, and confused is a whole different issue. The Dolphins, unfortunately, fell in the latter category on Sunday. As a result, McDaniel has been facing some serious heat on Monday. How did the team look THAT bad with months to prepare?
On ESPN’s Get Up morning show, former head coach Rex Ryan unleashed on McDaniel.
“McGenius guy or whatever the hell he is, nerd boy. Their team has no respect for their coach, they play like that. Where’s the physicality with this team? They’re soft, every part of their football team,” Ryan declared.
That’s a brutal takedown of McDaniel from the former coach. Going after McDaniel as a coach is one thing but insulting him as a person is uncalled for and lame from Ryan.
Still, football-wise, it’s hard to argue with Ryan’s overarching point. This Dolphins team sure did look soft in Week 1, and it also didn’t seem like they cared to fight for their coach. Key veteran Bradley Chubb even admitted after the game that guys on the defense were “on the field making stuff up” and not playing as a team.
What else are people supposed to think when players are doing whatever they want in the very first game? The only positive is that there are 16 games to go and all of this will be forgotten about if the Dolphins pull it together and rattle off some wins. After what we saw in Week 1, though, it would not be wise to bet on that happening.
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