The Miami Dolphins’ season came to a hard stop on Monday night as they fell 28-15 to the Steelers. With that, playoff hopes slipped away. During the game, the Dolphins’ head coach, Mike McDaniel, looked stuck between ideas. Decisions felt rushed, then slow. As a result, ESPN voice Troy Aikman did not hold back. From the booth, the NFL legend let Fins Nation know exactly how strange it looked.

At first, the Dolphins did not push the pace. Then suddenly everything flipped. McDaniel went, hurry-up. Timeouts followed right after. That whiplash stood out. Especially late. In the fourth quarter, with 42 seconds left, the black and gold were up 28-15. It was second-and-10. Everyone was set. The snap was coming. Then McDaniel burned a timeout. At that moment, Aikman had clearly seen enough.

“This is just a bizarre last few series. They don’t go hurry-up. Now they’re going hurry-up and calling timeouts. It’s just, it’s hard to understand exactly what the philosophy or what they’re trying to do,” Aikman said.

That line summed up the night. Meanwhile, the questions around McDaniel only grew louder. However, afterward, the Miami head coach faced it head-on. The Magic City coach did not dodge the result.

“I’m supremely disappointed we couldn’t come out with a win,” McDaniel said.

What made it tougher was the shift in identity. For weeks, the Fins leaned on the run. They bullied fronts. They stayed patient. Just a week ago, they gashed the Jets for 239 yards on 41 carries. This time, it vanished. Against a Steelers defense that had leaked yards, Miami ran only 16 times. The total was 63 yards. And McDaniel explained the miss.

“The plan was to run the ball as many times as we did last week, but it didn’t work out,” McDaniel said. “It’s tough when you’re not getting first downs to keep that rhythm and work the line of scrimmage like we wanted to.”

In the end, the plan faded. Now let’s see how the Dolphins played the game.

Mike McDaniel’s team was not up to the mark

Before the game, the Dolphins had four straight wins with a 6-8 record. So they had a chance to get back to .500. Instead, the offense stalled early.

Tua Tagovailoa forced one on the second drive and paid for it. That pick marked his league-leading 15th. From there, the rhythm never came. Worse, the cold trend stayed loud. Tagovailoa dropped to 0-5 in games under 40 degrees. For Fins Nation, it felt familiar. Miami has now dropped 14 straight in those conditions.

Still, the plan leaned on the ground game early. De’Von Achane got touches. The balance looked steady. Then it flipped fast. An underthrown ball toward Jaylen Waddle turned into another interception, this time grabbed by Asante Samuel Jr. The Steel Curtain moved the ball into Miami territory.

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However, the defense pushed back. Jordyn Brooks crushed Aaron Rodgers with a 10-yard sack on third down. That stop forced a punt and pushed Brooks to 3.5 sacks on the year.

Next, Miami struck first. Riley Patterson drilled a career-long 54-yard field goal after a clean 24-yard hookup between Tagovailoa and Achane. But late in the half, the tone changed.

Kenneth Gainwell set Pittsburgh up at the 1. Connor Heyward punched it in on a quarterback sneak, the tush push, with 17 seconds left. At the break, Steeler Nation had a 7-3 edge.

By halftime, the numbers told the story. Miami ran for 52 yards on 12 carries. Tagovailoa threw for just 61. Meanwhile, Rodgers had 13 of 14 throws for 105 yards.

After the break, Pittsburgh pulled away. A long, clean drive ended with a 28-yard strike to DK Metcalf. One missed tackle later, it was 21-3. Then, the former Fin added salt. Jonnu Smith ripped off a 14-yard rushing score, his first since 2020. That made it 28-3. Miami finally answered late. Tagovailoa floated a 6-yard touchdown to Darren Waller. The two-point try failed.

Later, the duo linked again from 13 yards out. Another missed conversion followed. The score read 28-15, and hope flickered once more. Miami missed the playoffs again under Mike McDaniel.