McDaniel

[Denver2]

McDaniel was just extended so who knows, but no matter how this year finishes coach deserves at a minimum one more year. I think 2. If he can’t make a deep run in 5 then fire him but this never ending coaching carousel has to end.

I would have been fine if Flores stayed after his late season run too fwiw

I don’t have it in me anymore to seriously follow this team if McD gets axed this year, I don’t have it in me for another coaching change and rebuild.

Fire Grier if we suck this year but McD in my book deserves and has earned some more time.

Can you imagine if we had Herbert or Burrow in this system with our players?

When Tua is there he has mostly done good for us. We probably win a playoff game with him the year before last! We probably win this game against Seattle if he slides instead of dives.

[Downunder Dolphan]

It's hard to take McDaniel seriously if he gives up when Tua is hurt.

Pulling Hill and Waddle out of the Bills game was gutless.

The team preparation and play-calling for the Seattle game was nothing short of pathetic.

Someone should tell Wonderboy this isn't a frickin Playstation game when you can hit reset when you don't like how things are going.

If Hill and Waddle slack off, he should have his foot firmly up their asses saying they are being paid top dollar to be top receivers, no matter who the QB is.

He's got to toughen up and work harder and have the team ready at moments of adversity like this, or else he's not fit to be an NFL coach.

The honeymoon period just ended. If he doesn't give a shit about how the team responds, why should we? 

[Dolfanalyst]

The problem with McDaniel will always be that the way in which a team takes on the personality of its coach is by essentially "prescribing" the kinds of players who are likely to rise to the status of leaders among their teammates.  NFL players don't respond to their coaches anywhere near as much as they respond to each other and the established team leaders among them.  However, if the established player leaders are the ones "prescribed" by the head coach's personality -- in this case ones who are fun and games comedians but can't bear down and rise to the occasion in the face of adversity -- well then that's the shape your locker room and your team culture will take.

For McDaniel to be successful the team would have to acquire players of the Ray Lewis ilk to lead the team -- highly established leaders who are well-known for their tough, no-nonsense approach -- and who essentially whisk McDaniel and his personality aside and lead the team with their own approach.  McDaniel's personality would have to be rendered a non-sequitur in determining the personality of the team, and that's the only way that can happen.  Unfortunately that's unlikely, however.

[Dave Gray]

I want to keep McDaniel forever.  I like him.  I think that blaming him is short-sided.

When you lose your franchise QB, that's kind of it.  You can't scheme around that.  So, sure, learn, do better -- whatever.  But this is a kind of coach I'd like to have for a long time.

[Phishfan]

There are plenty of teams that can win games after losing their QB. I know of one team that had a perfect season.

[Dave Gray]

That was over 50 years ago.  The game has changed.  The salary cap keep things different.  It's just apples to oranges.  Sometimes you get lucky and have the next Tom Brady on the bench, but by and large, if you have a big name QB and they go down, you aren't in contention anymore.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

That was over 50 years ago.  The game has changed.  The salary cap keep things different.  It's just apples to oranges.  Sometimes you get lucky and have the next Tom Brady on the bench, but by and large, if you have a big name QB and they go down, you aren't in contention anymore.

Nick Foles is pretty recent.   

[Dave Gray]

Nick Foles is pretty recent.   

It's a good example.

Thompson just isn't very good.

[Denver2]

It's a good example.

Thompson just isn't very good.

It’s a good example but it was still very much a fluke

[Dolfanalyst]

There have been lots of examples in NFL history where a QB has gone down injured and the rest of the team stepped up with extra effort to compensate.  There is a concept called "social loafing" and it's the opposite of that.  However, you have to have a team culture that inspires that kind of response, and I don't think this team has it.

[Downunder Dolphan]

It's a good example.

Thompson just isn't very good.

It's a good example, and the Eagles paid Foles top dollar to be their backup for a few years - because they knew exactly what they were getting, and could afford to do it.

They weren't anywhere near as over-extended as we are now by having a huge amount of our salary cap tied up in less than 10 players (a number who aren't even playing).

What's happening with us is self-inflicted: everything is tied up in Tua, and anything else is an afterthought. It doesn't matter if it's Thompson, Boyle, Huntley, White, or anyone else we can drag off the practice squad or off the street (because that's all we can afford), if these guys aren't getting reps with the starting players they're already way behind the 8-ball when they hit the field.

It's not as bad as when Curtis Painter came on for the Colts after Manning went down with virtually no reps at all, but it's well down the same path.

[Downunder Dolphan]

There have been lots of examples in NFL history where a QB has gone down injured and the rest of the team stepped up with extra effort to compensate.  There is a concept called "social loafing" and it's the opposite of that.  However, you have to have a team culture that inspires that kind of response, and I don't think this team has it.

Exactly. Hostetler with the Giants, Reich with the Bills, Dilfer with the Ravens, even Brady when he came on that first season... those teams rallied to greatness.

McDaniel pulling both Hill and Waddle during the Bills game when Tua went out, and their follow up efforts last week is the exact opposite.

Thompson hasn't played well, but even you Dave pointed out he has virtually no help. There are no excuses for this - it's just not good enough.

[Denver2]

There have been lots of examples in NFL history where a QB has gone down injured and the rest of the team stepped up with extra effort to compensate.  There is a concept called "social loafing" and it's the opposite of that.  However, you have to have a team culture that inspires that kind of response, and I don't think this team has it.

Sure, Osweiler stepping up in Denver when a shell of himself Manning went down ( Manning came back and managed to pull it off ) and of course when Griese was injured in 72…but most are backups doing enough to keep the team competitive until the starter comes back, and most that have done something similar id say had very good defenses to compensate.

You might be right about the culture, I know you don’t like McDaniel. All we can do is wait and see.

[Spider-Dan]

There have been lots of examples in NFL history where a QB has gone down injured and the rest of the team stepped up with extra effort to compensate.

There are far, far more examples of a Pro Bowl QB going down and the team collapsing.  The 16-0 Patriots, with one of the most dominant offensive teams of all time and one of the best head coaches of all time, were not able to make the playoffs after losing their starting QB the next year.

The teams that have been able to survive losing their starting QB have generally had dominant defenses.  These Dolphins are far from that.

[Spider-Dan]

It's a good example, and the Eagles paid Foles top dollar to be their backup for a few years - because they knew exactly what they were getting, and could afford to do it.

They could afford to do it because Wentz was still on a rookie deal.

What's happening with us is self-inflicted: everything is tied up in Tua, and anything else is an afterthought.

This is not a unique or unusual circumstance.  We have multiple recent examples of what happened to teams when their big-money starting QB is knocked out for a big chunk of the season; be it Matt Stafford, Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, or Justin Herbert.  

Your choices are to keep drafting rookie QBs or to pay the one you have.  But if you're not going to pay a QB, what sense does it make to pay any top player at all?  Why would you pay big bucks for Tyreek Hill or Jalen Ramsey if you're not going to pay big bucks for a QB?  You might as well just run a perpetual team of rookie contracts and bargain castoffs.

Furthermore, as we saw in 2022, having a QB on a rookie contract doesn't necessarily fix this.  MIA was aggressive in getting one of the more well-regarded backups in Teddy Bridgewater - Sean Payton claimed he should have been the starter - and when MIA's rookie-scale QB went down, the offense still imploded anyway.  The only insurance for surviving the loss of your starting QB is "Build your team around the defense."  And it's not like MIA has been stingy with the pocketbook on that side of the ball!