The deadpan comedy and nerdisms and one-liners at his press conferences were fine at first, but now it’s time for Mike McDaniel to be a true leader.

It’s time for him to step up against his greatest opponent: the NFL itself.

28 teams played yesterday, with 53 men on each team. 1,484 players played, and of those, only Teddy Bridgewater was ruled out of the game for the NFL’s ridiculous new concussion protocols. Only a Dolphin. Again.

Also yesterday, the NFL literally “invented” a new “rule” that no one had ever heard of before. If you throw the ball in the vicinity of your own eligible receiver, that’s not good enough anymore. Instead the NFL calls a safety against you. You receiver has to be not only in the vicinity, but if you happen to be a Dolphin, he must be in the vicinity AND he must not be being blocked at the time.

The NFL continues to come up with new rules to screw the Dolphins. Our entire lives, on a grounding play, we have heard the ref say “No penalty because Number so-and-so was in the vicinity.” But when it comes to the Dolphins, suddenly the new rule is that the player must be in the vicinity AND HE MUST ALSO follow additional, never-ever-called-before protocols.

Throw it 50 yards over a WR’s head? In the vicinity. Throw it at Durham Smythe’s feet? Penalty. And then that tool Mike Perrera trying to explain it was laughable. The ref on the field could say that 1+1=17, and Mike would agree with his friends in the zebra shirts.

My point is that Mike McDaniel needs to be PUBLICLY OUTRAGED. Any team has a right to ask the league for rulings. It won’t change anything, but at least it will show the NFL that the Dolphins will no longer accept what they pulled on us. Where was McDaniel’s fury? Where was he when he should have been asking the refs about that call.

I say this all the time: Plays in the 4th quarter are important, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about 1st-quarter plays. This very first play for us on offense, and the refs pulled a never-heard-of-before rule out of their hat. “It’s only 2 points and it’s still early” is not good enough, and obviously, it helped cost us the game.

Losing Teddy AFTER he had already PASSED the concussion test cost us the game too. I want to see McDaniel outraged at this as well.

If you keep your head down and tell the NFL that we’ll do everything you say, you get nowhere. Accept mysterious rule interpretations as though they occur every week? No respect.

Mike McDaniel cannot change game outcomes, but can he at least get angry? A couple of fells named Shula and Belichick got angry every time a ref or the league blew a call. I think they both had/have a decent career. He has to AT LEAST point these things out.

25 Comments

    1. It’s completely ridiculous. They were basically blaming Tua for this since he was concussed on a sack but of course brady gets the benefit while we lose another QB Teddy to a bogus new rule. Face it the NFL hates the Fins.

  2. I’m so pissed losing to the frigin Jets with them scoring 40 points on us that I’m annoyed with everyone on that team!!! Our most hated rival and the team let that happen!

    1. Author

      The defense is hanging in there each game, until they reach a point where they just break. In both the Cincy and Jet games, they kept us close for 3.5 quarters, and our offense had the chance to take the lead in the 4th. Both times, our offense turned it over, and you can sense that those turnovers took the wind out of our sails on D.

      I don’t see the obvious nor the tiny details of why the defense regressed, but they finished last year stronger than they began this year. Although holding the Bills to 17 while they score 40+ against everyone else is a good feat.

  3. When the announcers said that Bridgewater PASSED all concussion protocols but was being ruled out over an abundance of caution I knew the season was over for us. I don’t know why the NFL has had a hard on for the dolphins the last 20 years but it doesn’t seem like it’s ending this year. The better the Dolphins get the more rules the NFL makes up to put us back to the bottom.

    1. Author

      The waiver is the key. Have a piece of paper at every game. Let Teddy decide what Teddy is allowed to do. If you pass all the tests and you want to go in, sign this waiver that says “I want to play and won’t sue the NFL.” Don’t be held prisoner by the labor union.
      This is going to be an enormous blowup when it happens to a star QB. If Josh Allen gets up and rubs his thigh in the Super Bowl, guess what? Some overly cautious doctor can say he has trouble moving fluidly. He must sit the bench.

      1. The problem is that Brian is right the NFL will never do this to a star on another team. Look at the brady sack yesterday perfect tackle his head wasn’t whipped but 15 yards and first down. What did Tua get? Zilch out for multiple weeks and they took his backup out too!

        1. Author

          Yes, and EVERYONE is talking about the Brady roughing because it is Brady. The league will look into this an issue some kind of a statement about the rule interpretation. Meanwhile, after two days, none of the reporters asked McDaniel anything about the rule interpretation of the safety. Year in and year out, the Dolphins just accept anything the NFL throws at us without any debate. McD needs to be furious and vocal about the calls yesterday, but he is being neither.

          1. I agree he needs to do something or for that matter anyone in the organization including Grier should speak up. The whole thing is sideways.

            Even some players came forward today and said what a crock about brady it’s getting tiring to everyone. That play cost the Falcons a shot to win the game maybe even playoffs. Same with the Fins pulling a 2nd string QB is a death sentence.

            1. Author

              Barry Jackson reports, “There was no evidence of Bridgewater stumbling in video from WSVN-Fox 7, which followed Bridgewater from the field up until the point that he walked into the tunnel.” The NFL’s “spotter has a lot of explaining to do…but ONLY IF Mike McD keeps this at the forefront and DEMANDS answers angrily.

              1. Wow I guess that this explains that he “believed” Teddy to be wobbling but didn’t know 100%. Unbelievable…

  4. The play that turned the game around was Conner dropping the pass that would’ve given them a first down. They were only down 2 points at that time and driving for the lead with momentum on their side. Instead The Dolphins had to try the long field goal which was missed. It all went downhill from there.

    1. Author

      Cannot dispute Shemp’s point. That play was a killer.
      When plays occur at the end of the game, they get so much scrutiny as the “game-changing play.”
      But in reality, other plays earlier in the game are the true game changers. Shemp’s play was with about 10 minutes left, and not much thought was given to it because so much time was left.
      But if he makes the catch, we get a closer FG or maybe a TD. We take the lead and kick off deep, making Zach Wilson face a fired-up defense.
      Because of the kid’s drop, however, the Jets got the ball at midfield and our D looked like they knew the game was over.

      1. I like giving the kids a chance but that was a key play in the game. Why wasn’t Gesicki in there? Seems like he’s been blackballed or something or was this right after his big catch down the field? Either way very bizarre.

        1. Author

          I think Gesicki was in, but they went with 2 TEs. Smythe was hurt, so they had to go with Connor. Hunter Long (another waste tight end) was not active.

  5. Author

    I know it’s beating a dead horse, and I know Mike McDaniel does not read my column here and take advice from me. But he should.
    As I’ve said since the very first play of the game last Sunday, Mike McD needs to be furious and he needs to DEMAND answers form the NFL. Teddy B hurt his left elbow and then got concussion tests to be safe. He passed EVERY test. But then the NFL’s spy-spotter benched him.
    Instead of being furious and DEMANDING answers, this is what Mike McD said: “I didn’t see him stumble. But I’m not really in the business of grading and coaching spotters. Whether he stumbled or not, the rules are the rules.”
    Does that sound like a strong leader fighting for a win and demanding explanations? Or a guy just going along for the ride?
    Enough with his wisecracks and nerdy philosophy. He needs to step up and be pissed.

    1. I think he’s new and doesn’t want to rock the boat right away. I don’t disagree as I would have been asking the refs about all of this but he should be getting help from guys like Grier. Have a solid voice coming from the team including the players as Teddy was screwed too.

      Bottom line no one person should have the ability to kick someone out from the stands they are only seeing one side of the story up there. Stumble spotters we are watching you…

    2. Look, if Mike McDaniel would’ve called a running play instead of calling that dumbass passing play on first down that was so close to the Dolphins end zone, and if the Dolphins offensive line would’ve done even a shoddy job of blocking instead of letting that defense end just waltz untouched past them and had poor Bridgewater trying to salvage something of that play, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.

      1. Unfortunately they didn’t Phil but it was actually a corner blitz and Teddy missed it. Can’t really blame the oline. Either way teams are all over the Fins doing naked bootlegs. They aren’t respecting the run. The cut backs should be there to take advantage of this.

        1. Author

          The “trying to salvage” component that Phil mentioned has blown up our last two QBs. Sometimes you just need to throw the ball away. Oh, wait, Teddy did throw the ball away. To Durham Smythe. But the refs were apparently were too busy checking their Venmo accounts to see if the Jets had paid them yet.

          1. As predicted the Jets are ranked 16 Fins 17 on NFL power rankings. Just wait until they lose their next two games…. Even worse the 1-4 raiders are way higher not sure how but rankings can be ridiculous.

            Although Cowherd has the Fins 11 so I’ll give him that for looking past the QB and other injuries.

            1. Author

              I think 17th is fair is we’re stuck with Skylar. With Teddy we’re maybe 13. With Tua we become top 10 again. 3-0 record speaks for itself.

      2. Author

        Going back to the Bills game, the last few times we’ve been backed up deep have resulted in 2 separate safeties, and a couple of other 3-and-outs.
        The backed-up-deep part of McD’s playcalling is his worst trait. So far. You can’t give up automatic points every time you’re back deep.
        One thing that contributes to this is Jevon Holland being the inexperienced return man. He makes a fair catch when he should let it bounce into the end zone, or else he lets it bounce when he should catch it. I understand you don’t want to risk injury to Hill or Waddle by having them return punts, but we need to change something.

  7. They all hate our owner. There is no respect in the NFL for him. That’s a good call.

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