While there was visible growth on the Miami Dolphins, an 0-3 start assures Mike McDaniel will be playing for his job in the coming weeks. With his back against the wall, the coach is now pushing the NFL to act on one particular play involving Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
The Dolphins played their best game of the season so far. Of course, the bar had been set to low previously any improvement would be grand. Still, McDaniel’s Phins were up to the task against Super Bowl and MVP favorites, the Bills and Allen.
Regardless, minute details cost them the game, and McDaniel is now hoping for the NFL to right its wrong on a potential fumble by Allen that went unnoticed on the field.
“So this was a great exercise in my mental discipline. I saw it. I knew what happened,” McDaniel admitted, via Sports Illustrated. “So we’ll be in talks with the league. Haven’t got any feedback yet. But live speed, it appeared that it was a fumble with the assumption that it was a clean center-quarterback exchange. But we’ll see how the league rules it.”
The play
On first and ten with only a handful of seconds left in the second quarter, Allen and the Bills came out in victory formation to kneel the ball and head to the locker room. However, the signal caller struggled to get ahold on the pigskin, which slipped out of his hands and into the ground.
Allen picked it right up and touched down with his knee on the ground to effectively kneel. The play was called dead as if the loose football never occurred, but McDaniel and the Dolphins are now calling the league to get the situation right.
Dolphins should know better
Whether Allen’s fumble was called or not, the Dolphins have much bigger issues to address. Miami should make its mascot proud, but it seems to be drowning in a glass of water at the moment. With the season trending to disaster, the Fins must put the loss behind them and focus on next week’s divisional showdown with the New York Jets.