Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has been on the hot seat all season, and he did himself no favors with a questionable decision late in Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders.
The Dolphins and Commanders were tied 13-13 late in their game at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, when Washington muffed a punt and Miami recovered. The Dolphins quickly got the ball deep into Commanders territory and were eventually faced with 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
With 1:44 left in what had been a low-scoring game, it looked like Miami was going to take the easy field goal and try to get a defensive stop for the win. Instead, McDaniel decided to go for it.
Ollie Gordon took the handoff and was stopped for a loss, resulting in a turnover on downs.
HUGE STOP ‼️ Our ball with 1:41 to play.
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 16, 2025
📺 #WASvsMIA NFL Network pic.twitter.com/VWiLITTtS0
Washington got the ball back with more than enough time to get into field goal range, but the Dolphins’ defense bailed McDaniel out. The game then went to overtime.
Fans and members of the media were in disbelief that McDaniel did not take the field goal to go up 16-13 given the situation.
Mike McDaniel has to be fired. Ridiculous
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) November 16, 2025
Mike McDaniel is a moron. You kick the FG there. pic.twitter.com/qiB1w2WL0F
— Tyler (@therealsikmoney) November 16, 2025
Mike McDaniel when all he had to do was kick a field goal from the 1 yard line pic.twitter.com/69KjMiLjxs
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) November 16, 2025
What is Mike McDaniel doing here?
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdNFL) November 16, 2025
I’ll tell you the truth: I’m a little confused by Mike McDaniel’s tactics pic.twitter.com/33MG2d5unH
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) November 16, 2025
Miami’s defense had played fairly well to that point. McDaniel probably trusted the Dolphins to get the stop with the Commanders pinned deep after the turnover on downs. By that logic, he also should have trusted his defense to get the stop had the Dolphins gone up 16-13.
Fortunately for McDaniel, the game went to overtime and Miami pulled out the win. The decision was still highly questionable from a coach who has been under fire for troubling trends all season long.
