The Phinsider
The Miami Dolphins showed some fight on the road against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, but ultimately fell to their AFC East foes by a score of 31-21 — dropping the club’s record to a discouraging 0-3 to start the 2025 NFL season.
It has been a nightmare start for the Dolphins, as even though most didn’t predict a Super Bowl victory this season, a playoff berth seemed reasonable. After dropping games against the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, and the aforementioned Bills to begin the year, fans of the club from South Florida would just take a singular win at this point, with playoff talk feeling like a fantastical pipe-dream currently.
A report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapport ahead of Thursday night’s contest claimed Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s job was relatively safe at this stage, regardless of the outcome of the game. He said owner Stephen Ross, “likes him, believes in him and has invested in him.” He did give a caveat, however. “If fans suddenly stop showing up to the stadium, or if players stop playing for him, that can alter [McDaniel’s job safety].“
McDaniel’s job status will certainly be a storyline to watch throughout the rest of the 2025 season, but for now, we’ll focus on Thursday’s game and review the good, bad and ugly from Miami’s loss to Buffalo.
Moral victories aren’t nearly as fun as actual victories, and if you ask Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel how he he feels about them, he’ll tell you they have no place in the NFL.
“I’m never proud of a loss. We came here to win. I refuse to take moral victories as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins,” the head coach told ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.
Still, the Dolphins played better than many predicted heading into the contest — keeping it a tight game deep into the fourth quarter before a late field goal from Buffalo gave the Bills a double-digit lead. The silver lining to Thursday’s dark cloud outcome is that the team clearly hasn’t quit on McDaniel as their leader and the players have continued to play hard for their coach despite the disappointing losses that are piling up to begin the year.
The next step the team must take if they really want to help McDaniel’s job security is to actually win the games they’re playing in. They’ll get the opportunity to claim their first victory of 2025 a week from Monday when they host the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.
Zach Sieler is one of the Dolphins best players — although his play in 2025 hasn’t been up to par just yet. However, on Thursday night, it was an error committed by Sieler while playing special teams that ultimately contributed greatly to Miami’s defeat at the hands of Buffalo.
With just over ten minutes left in the...
