Dolphins HC Reveals True Reason He Didn't Go For NFL Record vs. Broncos

Mike McDaniel showed Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos mercy. But why?

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was on the brink of NFL history. Up 70-20 on the Denver Broncos, with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter, McDaniel could have kicked a field goal and given the Dolphins the all-time single-game scoring record in NFL history. 

Instead, McDaniel seemed to take pity on Sean Payton's Broncos, ordering the Dolphins to kneel down at Denver's 27-yard line. However, when asked about his decision to forego the NFL record, McDaniel revealed that it wasn't so much about showing mercy on the Broncos as it was making a decision that was in line with his overall philosophy. 

"I try to think through all of my decisions and hold them with the importance that they do have," McDaniel said post-game. "It felt like chasing points and chasing a record. That's not what we came to the game to do. That doesn't have a bearing on the overall season outcome. I saw it as a—10 times out of 10—you concede and kneel down in those situations. Because there was an attainable record, that was cool. But the message that I thought it would send wasn't really in line with how I view things. It's awesome to—I think it was the most points since '66 or something. I think that's awesome. For a regular-season record, you can have that and suffer the same fate as we had last year. I don't care about that regular-season record. It would have been cool, but what we're trying to do, I think that would be talking out both sides of my mouth if we would have tried to send the field-goal team on and squeeze the extra three. It's not really what I'm about." 

Mike McDaniel explains why he didn’t go for the NFL scoring record pic.twitter.com/n1JMvEwLBK

— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) September 24, 2023

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In 2022, McDaniel's Dolphins got out to a red-hot start in his first year as head coach, and while they still made the playoffs, it didn't result in a World Championship. To try and translate here, getting this record at the expense of further Broncos humiliation wouldn't affect or change Miami's outlook on winning it all. 

There's truth to what McDaniel said, and I'm sure that factored into his decision. But as a former Broncos ball boy and Mike Shanahan intern, getting the record at the expense of his childhood team likely played a part in McDaniel's calculus, too. 

And, as McDaniel said, scoring the most points in an NFL game since 1966... well, that's pretty cool in and of itself. His team still has much to celebrate, and the Dolphins can do it with class. 

Meanwhile, the Broncos are reeling. Payton looked like a man on the edge during his post-game presser, snapping at reporters and trying to get off the podium as fast as humanly possible. And understandably so. 

Broncos Country is rightfully excoriating defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, whose defense has allowed 122 points in just 12 quarters of play to open the season. But to quote Mile High Huddle's Luke Patterson, Joseph didn't hire himself. 

It was Payton who opted to buck NFL conventional wisdom and hire one of the most hated coaches in Denver history to coordinate his defense. It was only four short years ago that Joseph was fired as Broncos head coach after posting just 11 wins over two seasons. 

There wasn't much on Joseph's resume that lent credence to the notion that he was an ideal defensive coordinator candidate, let alone enough to offset all the negatives of bringing him back to Denver. And yet, Payton did hire Joseph. 

Whatever reason Payton had, the decision has utterly blown up in his face, and it has led to the Broncos train already jumping the tracks just three games into the 2023 season. If Payton doesn't make swift and decisive changes now, Week 3's humiliation will be but a preview of what's to come this season. 

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