MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel strode into his first regular-season postgame news conference with an even demeanor and soaking-wet shirt.
Moments before, Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler doused the 39-year-old rookie coach with Gatorade, a fun moment captured by the club’s social media team. Even without McDaniel mentioning to reporters how cold the experience was, you could tell by the priceless expression on his face.
But beyond that, McDaniel insisted he planned to do very little celebrating after his Dolphins thoroughly throttled the New England Patriots 20-7 here Sunday.
We understand why. It’s how football coaches are wired — focus on the task at hand, and then when it’s accomplished, move on to the next.
But we are under no such obligations. If McDaniel isn’t going to take a victory lap, we’ll do so for him.
Put simply, he outcoached the greatest of all time Sunday.
Mike McDaniel > Bill Belichick (at least for one day)
Down the hall, after McDaniel was done giving two-minute answers to six-word questions, Belichick was giving six-word answers to almost any question.
That’s how it’s been after losses for much of Belichick’s nearly quarter-century in New England. And as of late, he’s had more losses than wins here. Sunday’s 20-7 Dolphins win was New England’s fifth loss at Hard Rock Stadium in the last six seasons.
But none of those previous five losses came to a rookie coach in his very first game.
And while McDaniel was quick to credit his very talented roster — “they just showered me in Gatorade and made it about me,” he said, “which I know for a fact it’s not” — that talent came together Sunday only because McDaniel had an answer for Belichick at every turn.
When not one, not two, but three Dolphins offensive tackles got hurt Sunday, McDaniel and his staff plugged holes and moved players around to get through the game.
The Dolphins protected the football (winning the turnover battle 3-0) and limited the penalties (four for 20 yards).
They stayed out of their own way and let the Patriots self-destruct — which, to be honest, sounds downright Belichickian.
Bill’s team, meanwhile, missed blocking assignments (leading to a Dolphins defensive touchdown), jumped offsides on 4th-and-an-inch (leading to a Dolphins field goal), and couldn’t stop the Dolphins’ best player (Tyreek Hill had 100 yards from scrimmage in his Miami debut).
The Patriots have the league’s oldest team. But on Sunday, they made rookie mistakes.
Miami Dolphins’ fourth-down gamble was the difference
But all of that could have been overcome if not for one pivotal play with just seconds left in the first half.
The Dolphins, leading 10-0, faced 4th-and-7 from the Patriots’ 42. That’s the ultimate no-man’s-land. A 60-yard field goal is a low-percentage play. A punt would have been the safe, if uninspired, play.
McDaniel chose neither.
He went for it — with spectacular results. Tua Tagovailoa looked off the safety and then found Jaylen Waddle on a slant that would have been enough for the first down.
Miami’s dynamic young receiver had sights on far more. After beating Jalen Mills for the slant, he raced for the end zone, toasting Ja’Whaun Bentley and Kyle Dugger so badly that they collided into one another while trying to bring him down. The Dolphins went to the half up 17-0. The game was, for all intents and purposes, over.
McDaniel dialed up the kind of high-risk, high-reward decisions that players love — but also exposes the decision-maker to second-guesses if it fails.
McDaniel, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to care about critics.
“McDaniel, he’s going to need a wheelbarrow for his nuts to carry around because he has a lot of cojones,” Hill said. “Gutsy call by him.”
Added Dolphins tackle Terron Armstead: “We love it. We take it as a challenge. We take it as confidence. He has confidence in us to execute. We went out, and it’s a huge, huge play in the game to get points before the half, come back out with the ball. That’s a gutsy call in your first game as a head coach. … Against Bill Belichick no less.”
Much more of that will be needed over the next 17 weeks for the Dolphins to get back to the playoffs in a loaded AFC. But Sunday demonstrated they have not only the players but also the coach to go toe-to-toe with arguably the best one ever to patrol the sidelines.