Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is tired of hearing about his team not being able to beat quality opponents.
Ahead of his team’s Week 16 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, McDaniel ripped the media for the narrative that the Dolphins may be pretenders.
“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, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
Miami is 10-4 overall, but it is 0-3 against teams that currently have winning records. Those losses came to the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
But McDaniel’s focus is not on the records of his teams’ rivals.
“Because all we’re focused on is the Dallas Cowboys, and they definitely deserve our attention,” added McDaniel. “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.”
Well, the Dolphins will certainly be tested over the final three weeks of the regular season.
After facing the 10-4 Cowboys this weekend, Miami will face the Baltimore Ravens (11-3) and Buffalo Bills (8-6) to wrap things up before the playoffs.
The Dolphins are aiming to make back-to-back playoff appearances since the 2001-02 campaign. They have only made the postseason three times since then and have not won a playoff game since January 2001.
Obviously, McDaniel and Co. have some bigger fish to fry than media and fan narratives.
McDaniel is in his second season at the helm in South Beach.
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