Justin Fields had a breakout game on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. He accounted for 301 yards, including a record 178 on the ground, throwing three touchdowns and running for another. Everybody in the building loved what they saw—everybody except Mike McDaniel. The Dolphins’ head coach had a fun time with his own offense scoring 28 points, but that was dampened from having to watch Fields toy with his defense most of the afternoon.
Nothing he and his coaching staff tried seemed to work. They played man, they played zone, they blitzed, and they dropped eight in coverage. It didn’t matter. Fields kept running around doing whatever he wanted. So McDaniel decided to switch tactics. When the Bears QB encountered the coach on the Dolphins sideline in the 3rd quarter, McDaniel was seen jawing at him, ending with the words, “Stop it!”
When asked about it after the game, his reply was as funny as any sound byte you’ll ever get from an NFL head coach.
Mike McDaniel learned a valuable lesson.
Don’t expect the opposing quarterback to take any advice you have. It is a common thing most rookie head coaches need to learn. Miami managed to escape with a 35-32 win, helped in the final moments by a bad pass interference no-call followed by an ugly drop by Bears wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. McDaniel merely sounded happy knowing Fields would be somebody else’s problem the rest of the year. He doesn’t want to imagine facing him every season.
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Chicago has the Detroit Lions up next. Their defense is actually worse than Miami’s. If Fields played like he did last weekend, it is terrifying to imagine what he might do for an encore. Mike McDaniel will be many miles away from that potential massacre. Jokes aside, it’s always nice to hear a coach acknowledge how good a player is from the opposing team. That is doubly true when said player is a Bears quarterback.
