MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel declined to address his future with the team after Miami was routed 45–21 by the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, the latest in a series of embarrassing losses.
Miami has already been eliminated from the playoffs for the second straight season. And for the second consecutive game, the Dolphins unraveled in the third quarter, undone by the costly mistakes that have plagued them all year.
NFL Network reported earlier Sunday that owner Stephen Ross is expected to stick with McDaniel in 2026 despite another season of unfulfilled expectations for the Dolphins, who hold the NFL’s longest playoff win drought at 25 years.
“The focus for me as a head coach, there is plenty to focus on,” said McDaniel, declining to say if he’s been told that he’s coming back next season.
“I don’t spend my time thinking about the job I already have,” he added. “I try to do it to the best of my ability, and I have work to do to get our third quarters right. We’re not going to have any time to waste because there’s going to be a hungry Tampa (Bay) team that we’re going to face in a week. My focus is there, and everyone depends on me to have my focus there.”
McDaniel, who has faced questions about his job security all season, was much more willing to voice his frustration about the Dolphins’ poor second half. Miami turned the ball over four times, leading to four Bengals touchdowns.
“I’m just very, very frustrated and angry about this continued third-quarter thing,” McDaniel said, “where it appears … really the dam breaks and all of a sudden we play a different style of football. The way I look at it is I’m furious because I’m allowing it to happen. It starts with me. While I’m up here after games, you probably won’t get much other finger-pointing besides I need to get it fixed.”
Last week’s loss at Pittsburgh ended the Dolphins’ postseason hopes, and it also became clear that McDaniel would have to make what he described as a tough decision to bench struggling quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for rookie Quinn Ewers.
After naming Ewers the Dolphins’ starter earlier this week, McDaniel said he was looking for conviction from the quarterback position.
In his first career start, Ewers provided Dolphins fans — some of whom put brown paper bags on their heads as the game got out of hand — a look at what he can add to the Dolphins’ passing game.
Ewers completed 20 of 30 passes for 260 yards and led three scoring drives. He appeared calm operating Miami’s offense and showed his ability to extend plays with his legs, something the Dolphins were missing with Tagovailoa this season.
“It didn’t feel fast to me,” Ewers said. “During the week I thought we did a good job of keeping our eyes on the play clock and not getting in the rhythm of practice. Like, ‘Hey, it’s just practice. We’re going to continue on to just go through the motions.’ But we had a play clock on me during the week, which I think helped a lot. It felt good to be out there. Didn’t feel fast.”
Ewers appeared more rattled in the second half, throwing a pair of interceptions, but McDaniel did not critique the rookie’s second-half performance too much because of the way the team unraveled.
Tagovailoa was Miami’s emergency third quarterback behind Ewers and veteran Zach Wilson. He stood on the sideline with a clipboard, giving Ewers pointers and celebrating after positive plays.
“He was good. Super encouraging to me and all the guys,” Ewers said. “He’s in a tough position in that spot. … I’ve been there, and I know how he feels. I thought he did a really good job of helping me out on the sideline and continuing to talk to those guys and continuing to encourage those guys.”
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