By Brandon Simmons
Is it Time for Mike McDaniel to Head Out?
Every week turns to a Mike McDaniel job watch. The Miami Dolphins head coach has been speculated to be let go from the team at any given moment, as they are a dismal 1-6 this season. The bad start has been attributed to a dismal culture in the locker room, according to reports, specifically the preas conferences by Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagavoiloa. A couple of weeks ago, Tua said the players held players-only meetings, in which some players were late for.
There is not one positive sign for this team as each week goes by and it’s only a matter of time before that “fired” announcement comes. On paper, this looks like a well-constructed team, especially on offense; but this isn’t paper football. The reality of the Dolphins offense is that they have inconsistent production from an offensive lineup that could win a track meet, headlined by a wide receiver in Tyreek Hill – who’s out for the year – who has more headlines than touchdown the past 2 years. The star QB is being perceived as a questionable leader each week he delivers a press conference because of how he put his teammates on blast. The head coach’s press conference clips aren’t any better, as they really don’t show composed leader, but someone who can’t handle the barrage errors that has plagued this season.
There’s a lot to be said about what the Dolphins have going on, but the bottom line is it’s time for a change. McDaniel was brought in to lift up Tua in hopes his play would elevate this team, especially after the prior regime of head coach Brian Flores, reportedly had no faith in him. However, the results only seems to have justified Flores’ point. Under McDaniel, Miami has no playoff wins and Tua has been the poster boy for CTE. A culture change is needed and it has to start with McDaniel. There needs to be a new voice to come in and challenge this team to be accountable and spark them to clean up sloppy performances. That new coach also has to show some resolve when speaking with the media, no matter how things are going. At this time, nothing has been announced for McDaniel’s job but the season is still long.
The “Parity” of the League
At the conclusion of Week 7, there are 12 teams with at least 5 wins, up from last year, which was an increase from previous years. Analysts are deeming this as a refreshing parity but that statement has always felt misleading. There is a system that is in play for parity to occur year after year. Last place teams play other last place teams the following season all while having the option to choose first in the draft. So they get a crack at the beat young talent to build their teams back to the top. It’s vice versa for the top teams as they get a chance to compete against other top teams and get a chance to continue to add to their budding squads.
The reality is that a lot of this “parity” can be attributed to missing players on various teams. These absences have affected the teams assumed to be “better than most” – such as the Kansas City Chiefs without suspended wide receiver Rashee Rice and Cincinnati Bengals without injured QB Joe Burrow– as they have fallen down near the bottom of the standings, while teams such as the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars have taken advantage of their softer schedules – and short handed opponents in the Jaguars case who beat the Chiefs not that long ago – climbing to near the top of the league. The one counter to the current scenario is that the season is long and things happen. Teams get hot in the middle of the year and catch a win streak, some teams might get a little fatigued from early winning and their momentum slows down. This could really set the stage for a cluster of chaos at the end of the year.
The Realization of Justin Fields
It hurts to say it but Justin Fields chances as a starting QB might be over. The New York Jets QB was benched in Sunday’s 13-6 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Last week, Fields put up a gross total – no pun intended – of -10 passing yards, mostly due to the 9 sacks he took in the game. Some would tell you that it’s an unfortunate turn of events for the former first round pick and others would say this isn’t surprising.
The perception about Justin Fields is that he is a talented prospect who got drafted to a bad coaching situation and never developed and it plagued him. Taken by the Chicago Bears in the first round in 2021, Fields’ career was marred by bad o-line play, minimal weapons and inept coaching. It resulted in him being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he went 4-2 until he got benched for Russell Wilson. Now he’s on a rebuilding Jets team , with a new head coach, sitting at 0-7; 0-6 for Fields who missed a game.
The reality is he just has to accept his fate. The biggest knock to his game is him getting sacked, which is common with mobile QB’s, but it has affected his play, so much so that nobody realizes he has thrown 0 picks this year. The former firat round QB seems to have never learned to throw away the football when in danger and that has prolonged his development to being an effective passer. At this point in his career, if he doesn’t get it by now then he may never will. Fans can’t feel sorry for you too longer because of what some coaches didn’t do.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Denver Broncos for honoring Demaryius Thomas with a tremendous comeback. Entering the 4th quarter, the Broncos were down 19-0, but staged a 33 point comeback to win the game 33-32. It was the largest comeback by a team that had 0 points through 3 quarters. It was also a game where the team inducted Thomas into Ring of Honor, who passed away at just 33 years old in 2021.
Shut out to Minnesota Vikings fans hurling racist insults after a loss. It was reported that Vikings cornerback Isiah Rogers received racist slurs from fans after the Vikings 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Rogers posted the insults on his social media while the Vikings released a statement condemning the behavior.
Bonus shout out to New York Giants QB Russell Wilson for clapping back at an old coach. Sunday, after the Denver Broncos historic win, Denver head coach Sean Payton seemingly took a shot at Wilson, who was benched by NY a couple of weeks ago, by saying he thought he would be benched after Payton faced the Giants. Wilson apparently must have heard the comment then responded with this tweet.
Russ don’t really say much outside of football and Jesus, so he had to have really felt some way and rightfully so. Payton has been on this man’s head since Wilson was in Denver , mind you, that was 2 years ago. Glad to see Wilson let people know you can’t play with his name no matter what stage of his career he is in.
Week 8 is here and the trade rumors are heating up but the games will hold fans over until something breaks. The Green Bay Packers visit the Pittsburgh Steelers. It will be the first time that Steelers QB will face the Packers – whom he played with for 18 years – since being traded away from them in 2023. What makes this matchup even better is that each team is near the top of their conference, so it should make for a dramatic finish. But until then…I’ll holla.
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