Worth a Shot
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel had a hilarious tactic to try to stop Justin Fields on Sunday
On Sunday at Soldier Field, second-year Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields continued his emergence, torching the Dolphins D for 178 yards … on the ground. The performance, including a 61-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter, set a new NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game, surpassing the great Michael Vick.
While the Dolphins would hold on to win 35-32, they had no answer for Fields’ athleticism, as he waltzed to third-down conversion after third-down conversion. In fact, the Fins were so desperate to slow Fields that head coach Mike McDaniel decided to try an experimental new tactic:
Simply asking him to stop.
Needless to say, it didn’t work. Perhaps a “please” would have sufficed. Who knows. Still, if this doesn’t have McDaniel shooting up your NFL coaching big board, you have absolutely no sense of humor.
When McDaniel took the Miami job, he was something of a football-nerd darling—a run-game savant from Yale who held quirky press conferences and looked like he just got his learner’s permit. The handling of Tua Tagovailoa’s concussions in September put a dark mark on his otherwise great start in Miami, but this amusing moment may be the rebound he needs. The tides are turning. The smile is back. Look out, Belichick. This is Mike’s division now.