Dolphins' end of half clock management vs. Bills left Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit confused
It was an early showdown game in the AFC East. As it turned out, only one of the two teams actually showed up. The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins clashed on Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium. It once again proved to be a hard lesson for the ‘Fins, who have now dropped 14 of their last 16 overall contests to Sean McDermott’s club.
Of course, the headline coming out of the game was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leaving in the fourth quarter with a concussion. However, there was another troubling issue surrounding the 21-point loss.
Where was Mike McDaniel thinking late in the second quarter?
Down 24-7 with 3:36 to go before intermission, Mike McDaniel’s club took over on its on 30-yard-line. The Dolphins had all three of their timeouts. The march began with a incomplete pass from Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle. A pair of runs by De’Von Achane totaling 16 yards put Miami at its own 46-yard line at the two-minute warning.
The drive continued, but there appeared to be a lack of urgency by the home team that was down by more than two scores. It was certainly something the crowd sensed, and didn’t go unnoticed by the Amazon Prime Video broadcasting duo of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit.
After a break:
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2024
"This is the kind of drive where you look like you're running out the clock." - Al Michaels
"I think everybody's kind of surprised." - Kirk Herbstreit
"It's like they're playing defense... like they're afraid something bad is gonna happen." - Al 🏈🎙️ #TNF #NFL pic.twitter.com/R0H131KGv8
The Dolphins continued to cautiously nibble at the Buffalo defense, one that already given up its share of yards in the first half. The perplexing drive, which featured a lot of runs and no real downfield passing attempts, would get the team to Buffalo’s 41-yard-line. After Achane was thrown for a five-yard loss, McDaniel finally called the team’s first timeout with just 33 seconds remaining in the half.
When it was all said and done, Miami wound up getting a 34-yard field goal from Jason Sanders to narrow the deficit to 24-10. But the lethargic and uninspired march certainly left a bad taste in the mouth of many.
The Dolphins held the Bills to 59 total offense and zero offensive touchdowns in the second half. The game was still for the taking, however the team’s curious approach late in the second half had a defeatist feel to it.
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