A poor gameplan and poor performance by Tua set up an ugly loss
Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins were beaten down 28-15 by the Steelers in a game that will be remembered for a terrible plan even more than Tua’s poor performance. Watching the Steelers steal our gameplan should make it very clear that McDaniel and Tua stay in focus.
The narrative coming out of the locker room should not be framed as simply a quarterback failing; it’s a head-coach failure through and through. On Friday night the matchup presented Miami with a clear advantage — Pittsburgh’s run defense has been vulnerable — and McDaniel repeatedly refused to attack it. That decision, more than anything Tua did, cost the Dolphins the win.
This stubborn stupidity is something McDaniel has repeated since he was hired and should be the reason he’s fired.
Tua AND McDaniel need to move on
The opportunity was there: The Steelers’ front was missing key pieces, and their linebackers were not reliably closing seams. A patient, physical attack on the ground would have kept the weaker unit honest, eaten clock, and limited the pressure on Tua. Instead, Miami leaned on downfield passing and high-variance concepts that put the ball in tighter windows and left the offense exposed to turnovers. The result: stalled drives, quick punts, and a constant return to the sideline without momentum.
The fourth quarter was the most damning sequence. With the game still within reach, Miami’s tempo and play-call selection suggested a team more interested in stylized plays than winning football. The offense passed in situations that demanded running — short-yardage, mid-game sequences where moving the chains and draining clock were the obvious choices.
Time management was sloppy.
The sense among viewers and the commentators was that the team never truly tried to close it out in the way winners do: grind, finish, and make opponents earn every yard.
Tua underperformed, but McDaniel hasn’t leaned one bit?
Yes, Tua’s night was uneven. Missed reads and off-target throws amplified the problem and cost points. But blaming the loss on the quarterback alone is to miss the larger point: coaches design the frame in which quarterbacks play. When the playbook repeatedly forces a quarterback into low-percentage shots instead of creating controlled, repeatable opportunities, responsibility rests with the head coach. McDaniel is the architect here — he chooses the tendencies, the script, and the late-game posture. The team’s failure to convert an obvious mismatch on the ground and its retreat into risky passing late are coaching failures.
If Miami’s front office is serious about contending, accountability matters.
One game does not make a case for termination, but a pattern does. When strategic stubbornness replaces situational pragmatism — when a coach refuses to exploit a clear advantage and then offers the QB as a scapegoat — the franchise has to evaluate leadership. Fans want courage and adaptability, not ideology over winning.
Bottom line: the Dolphins lost this game because the head coach put them in a position to fail. Tua’s mistakes mattered, but they were symptoms, not the disease.
If the franchise wants to find success in 2026, the first place they should look is to the playbook and the man who sets it. Then turn the focus on Tua.
Both need to go.
But why do I feel it’s a good bet with the best pay per head that Ross will bring one or both back next season?
