https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/breaking-news/article/dolphins-coach-mike-mcdaniel-keeping-positive-outlook-despite-short-week-and-tough-divisional-matchup-on-tnf-162641470.html
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is choosing to enter the short week with a positive attitude after dropping two games in a row to start the season.
McDaniel’s Dolphins head to Buffalo to face the undefeated Bills on Thursday Night Football in Week 3. Although the Dolphins haven’t been able to topple the Bills in Buffalo recently, McDaniel views the short week as “a blessing” despite the opponent.
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“Thursday night games, after a loss, they can be a blessing because you have no time to think about anything else,” McDaniel said on Tuesday. “And quite literally, I can paint a picture that I think the team is understanding, is that every moment that you spend thinking about anything but the opponent is going to serve you in the worst.”
The Dolphins have already given up 66 points in the first two games of 2025. Week 1 was a 33-8 loss to Indianapolis and Miami fell 33-27 to New England on Sunday. McDaniel’s offense looked much better in Week 2 against New England, posting 358 total yards compared to the previous week against the Colts, when they managed just 211 yards.
Even in defeat, McDaniel is keeping his calm, cool demeanor while potentially staring at an 0-3 start. Dropping the first two games to open a season is bad, but starting 0-3 means making the playoffs is nearly impossible. Just four of 162 teams to start the season 0-3 have made the playoffs since 1990, per Sporting News.
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“I think it’s extremely important that the guys are solely focused, as I am, on the Bills and nothing else because that’s all that does matter,” explained McDaniel. “And truth be told, that’s the formula for Week 3 every year, regardless of your record.”
After making the playoffs in his first two seasons as coach in Miami, McDaniel’s Dolphins regressed last year, finishing with an 8-9 record and missing the postseason. Coming into this season, there were already whispers surrounding his job security and whether McDaniel should be on the hot seat. Those talks have only intensified over the past two weeks.
Some of McDaniel’s players have come to his defense. But the divide between what players like and what ownership wants can sometimes be as wide as the Grand Canyon.
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“Inside the building, inside the facility, a lot of that noise stops,” Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday. “I think that the trust and belief comes through time on task and working together on the problems that we need to solve as a unit, as a group. Obviously, when the results are losses, noise can be louder.”
This Thursday night game could make or break Miami’s season already. McDaniel has never beaten the Bills in Buffalo, and the Dolphins franchise hasn’t won there since 2016.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/breaking-news/article/dolphins-coach-mike-mcdaniel-keeping-positive-outlook-despite-short-week-and-tough-divisional-matchup-on-tnf-162641470.html
