For next Miami Dolphins step, Mike McDaniel must evolve offense further | Schad
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They have a long offseason to think about what happened and why it happened and whether they can prevent it from happening again.
"We will need to look back on this season and figure that out," Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said late Saturday night.
The Dolphins lost to the Chiefs 26-7 at Arrowhead Stadium.
So, no, Miami did not win its first playoff game in 23 years.
At least it's not minus 8 degrees back in South Florida.
It was a disaster, and most disturbingly, a third straight loss to end this once-promising, exhilarating season highlighted a regressed offense and struggling quarterback.
"They beat us, outplayed us, outcoached us, all those things," Miami coach Mike McDaniel said.
Yes, all of those things.
It was not long ago the Dolphins were scoring 70 points and celebrating touchdowns with a roller-coaster simulation in an end zone.
The coaster crashed.
Miami struggled against good teams and good defenses, finishing 1-6 against playoff participants, 10-1 against weaker teams.
Opposing defenses seemed to figure out McDaniel tendencies and found ways to exploit Tagovailoa weaknesses.
After the game, star receiver Tyreek Hill noted that the team will have to solve its issues against the Cover 2 defense, which is when the opposing team uses two deep safeties to limit or take away deep passing plays.
The Dolphins were miserable on third downs in the stretch run, including 1-for-12 against the Chiefs.
McDaniel said the team was in too many third-and-long situations.
In part because of high winds and sub-zero temperatures, it made sense to limit deep throws. But Miami's offense is not predicated on Tua driving the ball down the field in obvious passing situations.
The Dolphins play home games in paradise, but their division includes trips to Buffalo, New York and Boston and potential playoff meetings with such top AFC teams as Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Kansas City.
Tua is 24-9 in September, October and November and 10-11 in December and January.
These are numbers that will be brought up in contract negotiations.
Tua has struggled in cold conditions
So, too, will Tua's 0-5 record in sub-45-degree weather.
After the game, Tua said he's not worried about the contract, except for saying he trusts in what he is capable of doing for the organization.
McDaniel said he wouldn't blame any one person for offensive woes.
It's also true that Tua's passer ratings in season-ending losses to Baltimore, Buffalo and Kansas City were worse than subpar: 71.9, 62.7, 63.9.
In those games, there were four touchdowns and five interceptions.
We've said in this space that Tua had earned a new contract in the range of $50 million per season and we're not going to fully back away from that.
But it would be naive to overlook the possibility that Miami's leadership may want another wait-and-see season. Yes, even though Tua played all 18 games.
Vic Fangio's defense plays well, considering
Against Kansas City, Miami's defense stood tall, despite the absence of Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jerome Baker, Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio found some success against Patrick Mahomes by blitzing at an unusually high rate. And the Dolphins' defense allowed plenty of yards but also forced three Kansas City field goals.
McDaniel thought he had a good plan. But he did not have the answers to defeat Kansas City's defense. He must be equipped with better adjustment plans in 2024.
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Despite record-breaking offensive numbers, it's a reality that against the strongest opponents — Buffalo (twice), Philadelphia, Kansas City (twice), Dallas and Baltimore — the Dolphins' explosive offense averaged only 16 points.
McDaniel surely will evaluate all the reasons why. As he noted, the offense is an "ever-evolving" thing. It seems there must be some more evolution.
"Emotional," McDaniel said. "Gut-wrenching."
Dolphins' Tyreek Hill: We can't be 'front-runners'
Hill, the star receiver, noted that "we can’t just be a bunch of front runners," meaning the offense must find a way to get cranked up, not just when things are rolling and things seem easy.
It's never easy to be a Dolphins supporter.
At least it hasn't been since the 1970s, has it?
After a 9-3 start, it was hard to see things landing here.
Make no mistake, this Dolphins season ending without a single playoff win is a fail.
"Definitely wasn’t expecting a first-round exit," Hill said.
Joe Schad is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on social media platforms @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tua Tagovailoa floundered down the stretch for Miami Dolphins
