MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins were booed often by their home fans on Sunday. The boos could have been louder, but plenty of seats in the stadium were unoccupied.
Bad just keeps getting worse, and coach Mike McDaniel's seat likely is getting even hotter.
Another close game, another loss for the Dolphins. The latest entry on the list was written Sunday, when the Los Angeles Chargers — who led by 13 midway through the fourth quarter — rallied
to beat Miami 29-27 and drop the Dolphins to 1-5.
“There's zero victory that would be considered moral,” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins could use a victory of any kind right now.
If a Week 5 loss at Carolina wasn't gutting enough — up 17-0 early, then wasting the lead, falling behind, rallying to take the lead late before giving up the game-deciding score with 1:59 left — then this one was even worse.
The formula was similar: Miami led at the half, wasted the lead, got behind 26-13, got two touchdowns in the final 8:02 to take a 27-26 lead in the final minute — then gave up a 40-yard kickoff return and a 42-yard pass from Justin Herbert to Ladd McConkey. From there, the Dolphins could only watch helplessly as Cameron Dicker kicked a chip-shot field goal with 5 seconds.
“Shocked, I guess you could say,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “This is something that we've talked about collectively as a team about being able to finish in games like this where we have the opportunity to win the game. And it's not just one side of the ball. It's every phase.”
The Dolphins are 0-4 on Sundays this season. If that wasn't bad enough, Tagovailoa pointed out they haven't been great on other days of the week, either. He talked about how team leaders — meaning players, not McDaniel — have tried to work through some issues themselves, a process that hasn't gone smoothly.
“We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late. Guys not showing up to player-only meetings,” Tagovailoa said. “There's a lot that goes into that. ... There's a lot of things of that nature that we've got to get cleaned up.”
McDaniel said the players-only meetings are extra, and that he thought — in terms of team-mandated matters — the accountability has been good enough.
“It sounds like there was something on his mind with regard to the specific meetings with a couple individuals that he was trying to get corrected with direct communication," McDaniel said. "I think that’s the only way to lead as far as where we’ve been at as a program.”
Throw out a 33-8 Week 1 loss at Indianapolis, since it was one-sided. The defeats since — a 10-point loss to Buffalo where Miami had the ball with a chance to tie late, a six-point loss to New England, a three-point loss to Carolina and now the two-point loss to the Chargers — have all seen the Dolphins fail to deliver after giving themselves a chance at the end.
“Disappointing. It's disappointing," defensive end Jaelan Phillips said. He didn't even want to talk — there wasn't much to say, in his estimation, and he was probably right — before finally answering a few questions.
Right now, there are far more questions than answers.
Another banner plane — a Miami tradition of sorts when either the Dolphins or the Miami Hurricanes aren't going well — circled near the stadium before the game, calling for the firings of McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was at the game, as usual, and it's unknown if he saw the plane.
He did see some empty seats, which are never a great sign. And it's important to note that the Dolphins value the voices of their alumni a great deal, with Miami greats like Dan Marino and Nat Moore having spots within the team's brain trust.
The alumni are not happy.
“Don’t know what to say,” Hall of Famer Larry Csonka posted on social media. “I keep watching, hoping. I see talent and even some moments of good execution. But we’re inconsistent which boils down to rehearsal.”
The boos from Dolphins fans weren't all directed at McDaniel. Some of them probably weren't even prompted by the actions of this year's team, but rather an accumulation of disappointments. Miami hasn't won a playoff game in a quarter-century, a span in which every other franchise has at least one playoff victory and division rival New England has 30.
“We have a job to do,” McDaniel said. “Our job is not just to take a bunch of L’s, so we need to go back to work and be tough-minded and figure out how we’re going to attack the next opponent.”
McDaniel started his Dolphins tenure with a 20-13 record, including playoffs. He's 9-17 since. That dropped his record below .500 for the first time at 29-30.
“Football games and life don't just happen to you," McDaniel said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that our young players have to learn — and everyone has to learn — is that no one really has time nor cares about how you feel and losing’s hard and it feels like trash. No one cares. Regardless if they’re high-fiving you or booing you, you have control over the next result and that’s it.”
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