Despite their 2-7 record and plenty of controversy on and off the field, the Miami Dolphins have chosen to keep head coach Mike McDaniel around. He was one of the strongest candidates to be the first head coach to lose his job this season, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, the Dolphins moved on from GM Chris Grier.
However, after watching the first play of the game vs. the Buffalo Bills, former NFL QB Chase Daniel couldn’t believe his eyes.
Chase Daniel Can’t Believe Another Miami Dolphins’ Epic Blunder
As pointed out by NFL insider Ari Meirov, the Dolphins had to take a timeout even before snapping the ball for their first play of the game. They were later called for a penalty. Per Daniels, that’s hard to believe, even for the Dolphins.
“The Dolphins just used a timeout with the clock still at 15:00 in the first quarter. I’m not joking,” Meirov wrote, with Daniel responding, “You script the First 15 plays of the game….this is almost unbelievable.”
The Dolphins just opened things up with a penalty and a timeout… all before time elapsed in the game. pic.twitter.com/aTzzmoX25l
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 9, 2025
This speaks volumes about the preparation– or lack thereof — of this team.
McDaniel has drawn plenty of criticism this season, with even former Dolphins star Richie Incognito claiming that he’s not a leader of men.
There seems to be a clear division between QB Tua Tagovailoa and everybody else. The fact that Tagovailoa revealed that other players didn’t arrive on time for players’ meetings is pretty evident, indicating a significant void and lack of leadership. He also doesn’t sound too fond of the coaching staff.
The devil is in the details, and execution is more about focus than it is about talent. There’s simply no way this team wasn’t prepared for the first play of the game.
Then, to add insult to injury, the Dolphins capped off the opening drive with Tagovailoa’s 12th interception of the season.
The Dolphins still have the second half of the campaign to turn things around, and beating a divisional rival and Super Bowl contender like the Bills will certainly be the type of morale boost this team has needed all year long.
They’ve already shown how dangerous they can be on offense when they’re at their best, but they haven’t been able to find any sort of consistency.
And with these head-scratching miscues, it will be hard to make a case for McDaniel to hold onto his head coaching position for much longer.
