Dolphins’ McDaniel laments another crushing loss and what’s going wrong
After a second consecutive crushing loss in which Miami blew a fourth-quarter lead, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel lamented his team’s inability to finish games.
“I’m not worried about the team staying together,” he said Sunday after a 29-27 loss to the Chargers. “I’m worried about us getting our football right. That’s the fourth game we’ve lost in the final couple minutes where it’s a one-score game. This is a game we let slip away.
“Guys are hurting from a game we let slip away. The message is it’s hard to get victories in the National Football League.”
But McDaniel again expressed support for his players and coaches.
“I believe in the human beings, coaches, players and while we didn’t get it done, they showed me why I believe in them,” he said of his team rallying from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to briefly take a late lead. “The resolve was real.”
He said that “no one cares” that anyone “feels like trash” after a 1-5 start.
Of the horrific third quarter, in which the Chargers gained 155 yards and the Dolphins lost 11, McDaniel said: “We had a quarter that left much much to be desired and ended up being down 10 points in the fourth quarter.
“We got ourselves into a position with a lead with 46 seconds left, and we didn’t finish ... We had turnovers we could have managed better... We are letting [bad plays] snowball too much.”
▪ McDaniel was asked if he was aware of Tua Tagovailoa’s assertion that several players have been late, or haven’t attended, some players-only meetings.
McDaniel didn’t give a yes or no response but said player-led meetings “are extra, outside of what I demand. Sounds like there is something on his mind with specific things he had in mind and he was having direct communication. Clearly, he is sending a message.”
He said the players have “been accountable to me. Everything I’ve asked of the guys, they’ve delivered on.”
▪ McDaniel addressed two damaging elements of Ladd McConkey’s 42-yard catch and run to set up the Chargers’ game-winning field goal.
Jalean Phillips had Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in his arms but couldn’t pull him down for the sack. And Trader was unsuccessful in his attempt to tackle McConkey, allowing him to get within field goal range.
“Part of winning games is executing your best technique and fundamentals.” McDaniel said. “When you’re in position to win the game and have a quarterback in your grasp, a potential sack in that situation is monumental because they would have had to burn a timeout. It didn’t decide the game, but it could have been the decider.”
On the Trader error, “we had an over-run tackle,” McDaniel said. “Very controllable. It’s a tough one to experience because it’s at the root of technique and fundamentals that we’ve been talking endlessly about, about bringing down a ball-carrier.”
Here’s my piece with a dozen thoughts and notes about the game.
This story was originally published October 12, 2025 at 4:59 PM.
