South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Up against Belichick and still favored
McDaniel has a tough coaching matchup for first regular season game
It’s not exactly “The Battle for the Ages,” this coaching matchup between Dolphins rookie head coach Mike McDaniel and New England coach Bill Belichick in Sunday’s season opener at Hard Rock Stadium.
But it could be an interesting pairing.
Granted, it’s heavily, and almost unfairly, slanted toward Belichick, regarded by many as the best coach in NFL history.
McDaniel is making his head coaching debut; Belichick’s 290 regular-season wins rank third all time behind Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318).
“Can there be a larger disparity in career win-loss total?” McDaniel cracked.
As McDaniel pointed out, however, this game isn’t McDaniel vs. Belichick, it’s Dolphins vs. Patriots, and that’s where McDaniel gets a real advantage, according to Las Vegas.
The Dolphins, who have a threegame winning streak over the Patriots, are favored by 3.5 points.
As for the coaching battle of minds, everybody knows what to expect from New England.
Belichick is a master strategist known for taking something away from his opponent’s offense (a wide receiver, tight end, etc) and having unforeseen wrinkles in his game plan.
“One of the features of coach Belichick’s team for years is there’s plenty of elements of surprise,” McDaniel said. “So I guess I’d be surprised not to be surprised.”
McDaniel, however, might also have a measure of surprise on his side considering no one has ever seen him as a head coach. There are no trends, no history to study.
Perhaps that’s his sliver of daylight.
McDaniel, the 39-year-old offensive whiz with a propensity for pre-snap motion and an emphasis on the run game, was a major factor in San Francisco’s offense ranking seventh in the league last year [375.5 yards per game] as the 49ers advanced to the NFC Championship game. He has a creative offensive mind, which he’s revealed in doses in training camp and preseason, but you know there’s likely much more to come,
more ways to use the running backs and tight ends, more ways to use blocking schemes to his offensive line’s strengths, more ways to confuse a defense.
On top of that, McDaniel, a
15-year NFL assistant coach, has probably thought about this game for his entire career. Belichick, a
46-year head coach, has probably thought about it for a few months. Let’s not get it twisted, though.
McDaniel gets no discernable advantage over Belichick.
After all, McDaniel will be calling plays for the first time Sunday.
But McDaniel presides over an offense that made significant additions among players such as wide
receiver Tyreek Hill, the turbocharged six-time Pro Bowl selection, left tackle Terron Armstead, the three-time Pro Bowl selection, running backs Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds, and center Connor Williams.
They’ll combine with third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the goal of improving last year’s offense that finished 25th in total offense (307 yards per game) and
22nd in scoring (20.1 points per game).
McDaniel also gets an attacking Dolphins defense that recorded
48 sacks last season, one from the franchise record. Miami returns the vast majority of the defense, led by All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard, but is missing fellow cornerback Byron Jones (leg injury).
New England, which has raised eyebrows by essentially having two offensive coordinators, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, went 10-7 last year under the guidance of Pro Bowl quarterback Mac Jones (22 touchdowns, 13 interceptions). But it was mostly powered by a run game that finished eighth in the league (126.4 yards per game) and a defense that finished fourth 310.8 yards per game). It’ll likely employ the same defense/run game formula it used last season.
But Miami can’t count on that thought. Again, this is Belichick.
“They’re going to give us something that they haven’t shown or haven’t done that we’re definitely going to have to adjust or be prepared for,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said. “That’s another thing when it comes into game-planning opening day, you have to be very careful about chasing ghosts because you’ve almost had seven months to game plan one game.”
Miami, which finished 9-8 last season, will use a blitz-happy defense and a multiple offense to keep the Patriots off balance and uncomfortable.
One thing to remember is the Dolphins have done well at home recently, as their six-game home winning streak attests. That’s a confidence booster.
But McDaniel remains aware of the bottom line when it comes to facing Belichick.
“You better prepare your team and leave no stone unturned,” he said. “Otherwise, you’ll end up kind of coaching with regret after the fact.”