It’s the NFL, Mike McDaniel’s version, and it’s the most fun a so-serious league has had in years. His attitude is as transfixing as his offense. He defies ritualistic solemnity. He’s a chronic violator of not acting like a football coach with sideline smiles during games and deadpan deliveries in news conferences.
He’s about to succeed with the Miami Dolphins on the big stage, too. The only question is if it happens Sunday night in Philadelphia against the Eagles.
Does this masked offensive line hold? Has this improving defense improved enough? Is this franchise that hasn’t played a regular-season game of consequence like this in three decades ready to play one in Philadelphia?
Oh, the Dolphins have had games of playoff consequence. Just last season, the regular-season finale against the New York Jets put them in the playoffs. But no one saw it as more than that.
They’ve had games of hopeful consequence, too. Adam Gase ran the table at the end of his first year in 2015 just like Tony Sparano did in 2008 and Nick Saban in 2005.
But they’ve haven’t had one like this for a while, not a national game that said they could win anywhere against anyone. You have to go back Thanksgiving Day in 1993 when Don Shula’s team went 9-3 on the most miraculous of snow-scripted plays. Even that was a false alarm. The quarterback situation didn’t hold with Dan Marino hurt and the Dolphins didn’t win again that season (and Jimmy Johnson’s Dallas team didn’t lose again).
So, maybe it’s not this Sunday for these Dolphins to take the stage. But get ready for it. Maybe it’s in a couple weeks against Kansas City or somewhere in December. The over-riding point is this is one the eight teams at the top, with the chance to be The One, because it’s the natural and sensible progression to what’s played out these first six weeks of the season.
Let’s review what’s happening in Fun City (do you like that better than “The Greatest Show on Surf”?):
* Most points scored;
* Most rushing yards;
* Most passing yards;
* Most plays of 20 yards or more;
* Bottom-line: Most fun per play. As the great poet, Muhammad Ali, once wrote: “Me. Whee-e-e!” If you’re not enjoying this season, check your pulse.
The knock is the Dolphins are 5-1 against bad teams. It’s true. Their five wins are against teams that are 5-24. They played one Top 10 scoring defense, Buffalo, and struggled to 20 points. The five other teams they’ve played rank among the worst 10 scoring defenses. So this game can confirm the good news of this season so far.
This is true, too: Philadelphia lost its first game to the New York Jets last week; San Francisco lost its first game to Cleveland’s backup quarterback; Buffalo nipped the New York Giants, 14-9, a week after the Dolphins put up 42 points on them.
Every week matters in the NFL. But every game isn’t conclusive. That’s something to remember considering the heightened stakes of Sunday.
So, it matters to see if McDaniel can mask this offensive line against one of the NFL’s top defensive lines. It matters if the predicted wind of up to 15 mph — and gusts to 30 mph — can slow down this offense. It matters if Miami’s defense can hold up against Philadelphia’s powerful offensive line.
It should matter to football fans who wins, too. Each team is defined by something. Philadelphia (5-1) gave football the “Tush Push,” the Cro-Magnon play where a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 is aided by teammates pushing him from behind. Whee.
The Dolphins gave the NFL the blur of motion before the snap, speed across the field, the Tyreek Hill backflip with a camera after a touchdown and 70 points.
Seriously, who’s better the league? Team Tush Push or Fun City?
There’s a sincerity to the culture McDaniel has created, too. As he says, “It’s one thing to have a glass-half-full boss and one thing to have a glass-half-empty one.” Football is accustomed to coaches being dictators, to their radar to be up for only what’s wrong, for glumly talking about that half-empty glass.
McDaniel coaches another way. He thinks football can be fun. His mindset, as well as his offense, offers evidence it can. It all goes on the big stage Sunday. Does this new way succeed on a national level now? Or is it coming somewhere later down the line?
