What a thriller. The Miami Dolphins trailed the Jaguars until late in the fourth quarter, and Mike McDaniel believes his two previous Dolphins teams would not have had the fortitude to stay strong and post a comeback win. Wow.
Following the game, McDaniel spoke with the media and was asked about how things went, specifically coming from behind. The Dolphins head coach didn’t wait to answer and said that this team is “built differently” and that, “I’m not sure my previous two teams would have won this game.”
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Miami has lost plenty of close games over the last two seasons, but they also have come back from deficits as well. McDaniel knows that his teams have gotten down on themselves when trailing and while playing poorly. However, this wasn’t the case for the Miami playmakers against the Jags.
The game changed on a defensive strip of Jaguars running back Travis Etienne. The Jaguars runner was one yard from a touchdown when he was stripped. Kader Kohou recovered the ball in the endzone. On the next play, Tua Tagovailoa hit Tyreek Hill for an 80-yard score, and Miami went from potentially being down 24-7 to being down by three.
Later in the contest, Miami forced the Jaguars into a 4th-and-1 situation. The Dolphins defense stopped them, and four plays later, Jason Sanders missed from 42 yards. The Dolphins defense didn’t give up, Miami’s offense didn’t give up, nor did the special teams. Instead, Miami ended up winning this one in walk-off fashion thanks to Sanders, set up by some big plays from Tagovailoa.
The game looked to have been played by two different teams, one in the first half and one in the second. Maybe McDaniel does believe that his previous two teams would have caved, but it doesn’t matter. In Week 1, they didn’t fold; instead, the team’s leaders took control and kept everyone on the same page fighting. The result was a victory.