The Miami Dolphins playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t have gone much worse, as the Chiefs dominated in all three phases in the 26-7 victory. It was an embarrassing loss, putting a disappointing end to a fun season for Dolphins fans.
There’s been a lot of discussion about variables that worked against the Dolphins going into the game such as weather and injuries, but head coach Mike McDaniel directed attention away from excuses and focused on the goals that weren’t achieved during his postgame media availability.
“We had goals that weren’t accomplished tonight,” McDaniel said. “I think one of the reasons that it hurts so bad is because nobody on this team really harbored all the excuses.”
There were undoubtedly built-in variables that stacked the deck against Miami. The freezing temperature made it impossible for them to run their normal offense. Defensively, the Dolphins missed six starters due to injury. Considering all of the excuses McDaniel could address, he instead credits the Chiefs for simply outplaying his team.
“We lost a game we were 100% all in fearlessly feeling as though we’d win,” McDaniel said. “But hats off to the Kansas City Chiefs, they beat us, outplayed us, outcoached us.”
The Dolphins’ postseason journey ends similarly to their last two games of the regular season, losing to a better team in a convincing fashion. Miami’s offense gained absolutely no momentum outside one big touchdown pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The defense struggled to tackle and made it look easy for quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense to move the ball.
There are many positives to take away from this season while much was to be desired. McDaniel and his team will hopefully enter this offseason with a mindset of attacking the areas in which the team fell short late in the season.
