NFL News: Mike McDaniel made controversial decision that could have cost him his job as Dolphins head coach

Mike McDaniel took a massive risk during the Week 11 game between the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders. With the score tied 13-13 and only 1:44 left in the fourth quarter, the head coach decided to go for the touchdown on fourth and goal from the 2-yard line instead of kicking the field goal that would have given them the lead.

The Commanders had no timeouts, so the most reasonable decision was to take a three-point lead and trust the defense. However, McDaniel didn’t even consider the field goal, and the Dolphins were stopped, giving Washington a chance to win the game.

Marcus Mariota led a furious drive that left his team with a chance to hit a game-winning 56-yard field goal, but Matt Gay missed it, sending the game to overtime.

Why did Dolphins win against Commanders?

The Dolphins beat the Commanders because on the first series of overtime, Jack Jones intercepted a pass from Marcus Mariota, giving Miami excellent field position to close out the game.

Riley Patterson connected on a 29-yard field goal to seal the game at 16-13. This was Mike McDaniel’s explanation for a decision that, had his team lost, likely would have cost him his job as head coach.

“Well, you don’t make that decision unless, you know, I thought the play was going to work, and it didn’t. But, looking at from it was about 1:47 or something, with no timeouts, a field goal gives them the ball back. Their special teams is very adept at getting the ball between the 30 and 40, which would leave about 25 yards for a tying field goal, as opposed to going 60 yards when they’re backed up.”

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McDaniel admitted that it was also a show of complete confidence in his defense. “So, those are the type of situations that you try to do the best thing with the recourse of failure and that was an example of the defense stepping up. They held when it was most critical, and to get a three-phases, a complementary football game where we got takeaways in two phases and didn’t turn the ball over, it was an important win for for our team. I definitely wouldn’t have made that call if I thought it was going to fail, but you you also make that decision based upon the recourse if it doesn’t work.”