Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel says he isn’t concerned about any narratives that his team can’t beat high-quality opponents. The Dolphins are 10-4, but they’re 0-3 against teams that currently have winning records. Asked today about facing questions regarding the Dolphins’ ability to beat a good team ahead of Sunday’s game against the Cowboys, McDaniel said he’s concerned only about the Cowboys, not about the questions. “I instructed the players that anything other than concerning yourself with the next opponent, which for us is the Dallas Cowboys, any other narrative that has to do with good teams, or playoff seeds, or the next three games, all that stuff, I gave them the clearance to tell all members of the media, to, with all due respect, F off. With all due respect,” McDaniel said. “Because all we’re focused on is the Dallas Cowboys, and they definitely deserve our attention. So as we clean up our game from the previous, we’ll be thinking about that and the narratives will be what they be. We’re not really concerned. We know that will exist but it’s really inconsequential to what we’re trying to do.” The Dolphins have three games left against three good teams: The 10-4 Cowboys, the 11-3 Ravens and the 8-6 Bills. They need to figure out how to beat a winning team.
It's great that he's telling them that and I think he's doing as good a job as he can preparing the team. Time will tell whether that can make up for our huge weakness on the O line though.
The key is to not lose any o-linemen during the game. With a week to prepare, these coaches can win with whatever group they start with. They've proven that over and over this season. It's when a major piece gets hurt mid-game that they've struggled.
