Tyreek Hill had a very colorful description for Mike McDaniel’s ‘gutsy’ fourth-down call
These Miami Dolphins are different than they’ve been in the last few years and any lingering doubt about Mike McDaniel’s supposed culture change should’ve been gone by halftime of their 20-7 win against the New England Patriots on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Dolphins were already up 10-0, but McDaniel wanted a kill shot with 24 seconds left in the half and his team across midfield. With a fourth-and-7 at the Patriots’ 42-yard line, the coach saw an opportunity when so many others would’ve surrendered and settled for their double-digit halftime lead. In his debut as an NFL coach, McDaniel decided to take a shot.
“He’s going to need a wheelbarrow for his nuts to carry around,” star wide receiver Tyreek Hill said, “because he’s got a lot of cojones.”
Stifling defense, Tyreek Hill lead Dolphins to season-opening victory over Patriots
McDaniel sent wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. in motion and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa saw New England was sitting in man-to-man coverage. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle ran a slant from the slot and Tagovailoa hit him in stride as he broke for the middle of the field. Waddle did the rest and outran everyone for a 42-yard touchdown and 17-0 lead.
Miami’s win probability jumped past 90 percent, according to ESPN.
“He’s just got confidence in us,” said Waddle, who finished with four catches for 69 yards and the touchdown. “We’re confident in him, every decision that he makes.”
Ultimately, it was mostly a high-risk, low-reward move — ESPN’s Next Gen Stats said the Dolphins would get a 0.2-percent advantage in win percentage out of going for it — although any risk is often a deterrent for NFL coaches, especially when their team is already leading.
The downside, as McDaniel summed up, is this: If the Dolphins (1-0) failed and the Patriots (0-1) took over at their own 42, all New England would need is about 15-20 yards to get in range for Patriots kicker Nick Folk to try a long field goal. A 10-point lead could slip to a single score.
McDaniel decided the slight risk was worth the potential reward, whether it was just a first down to get in range for kicker Jason Sanders or the home-run shot to Waddle.
Tagovailoa got the protection he needed to take the big swing and nailed the biggest play of his day Miami Gardens.
“That’s gusty, man. That’s tough,” tackle Terron Armstead said. “We love it, we take that as a challenge, we take that as confidence. He has the confidence in us to execute and we went out and it was a huge play in the game to get points before [halftime], come back out with the ball, so that’s a gutsy call in your first game as a head coach.”
Said McDaniel: “That was a cool moment for all of us.”
It was also another sign of how different McDaniel will be than former coach Brian Flores.
Last season, Miami was tied for last in the NFL with 22 fourth-down attempts. Although they only technically tried one fourth-down conversion in Week 1, the Dolphins also picked up another first down when New England jumped offsides on fourth down and the number of attempts is just naturally going to be lower for a team when it leads for virtually the entire game, as Miami did this weekend.
At 5.2 yards per play, the Dolphins’ offense hummed in a way it rarely did during the 2021-22 NFL season — Miami only averaged 5 yards per play six times last year — and a more consistent offense will reward the Dolphins by letting them make decisions like this one.
In the long run, they add up and give Miami, potentially, another edge it lacked a year ago.
“I love it,” Tagovailoa said. “He has the utmost confidence in the entire offense. That’s why.”
