The Miami Dolphins once again ran into a familiar nemesis: cold weather-and this time, they got hit with more than just freezing temperatures. After a 28-15 loss to the Steelers on Monday night, the Dolphins not only left Pittsburgh with a bruised playoff outlook, but also took some heat from the broadcast booth, with Hall of Famer Troy Aikman questioning their late-game decision-making.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Miami’s struggles in cold-weather games are no longer just a narrative-they’re a pattern. And Monday night did little to change that.
Despite entering the game on a four-game win streak that had resuscitated their season, the Dolphins fell flat in crunch time. The offense sputtered early, the defense gave up too many big moments, and when it came time to mount a comeback, things got... confusing.
That’s where Aikman stepped in. With Miami trailing by multiple scores late in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins’ approach-or lack thereof-raised eyebrows.
“This is just a bizarre last few series,” Aikman said during the broadcast. “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.”
It was a fair critique, and one that head coach Mike McDaniel addressed after the game. According to McDaniel, the late-game strategy was shaped by the math: “Ultimately, I knew, based on the amount of possessions we needed, that we were going to have to convert at least one onside kick,” he said. “So, the major focus to me was getting the ball in the end zone.”
In other words, McDaniel was playing the clock and scoreboard, knowing that a comeback would likely require a successful onside kick. But the execution-and the urgency-just didn’t match the moment.
Let’s zoom out for a second. This Dolphins season has been a rollercoaster.
They opened the year with seven losses in their first nine games, and McDaniel’s future with the team looked uncertain. But a midseason surge gave Miami life, and they clawed their way back into the playoff picture.
Monday night, though, felt like a step backward-a reminder that consistency still eludes this team when it matters most.
McDaniel didn’t sugarcoat things in his postgame comments. “I’m supremely disappointed at the outcome,” he said. “Flat out, their team was better than our team.”
That kind of honesty is refreshing, but it also underscores just how much went wrong. McDaniel pointed to breakdowns across the board-coaching, execution, and discipline.
“Everybody has to do better. You have to coach better,” he said.
“Several times tonight, [the quarterback] was about to make the right read, and we had our [receiver] fall over.”
It’s a telling quote. The Dolphins weren’t just outplayed-they were out-executed. The offense couldn’t sustain drives, the defense couldn’t get key stops, and the lack of control on the ground game left them chasing the clock.
And that’s the thing: when you’re not winning time of possession, when your run game isn’t setting the tone, and when your passing game is off rhythm, it’s hard to dictate anything-especially in December, especially on the road, and especially against a team like the Steelers that thrives in these kinds of games.
The Dolphins still have talent, and they’ve shown flashes of what they can be when things click. But Monday night was a reminder that flashes aren’t enough.
Not in this league. Not in the cold.
Not when the margin for error is this thin.
For now, McDaniel and his team will have to regroup, refocus, and find answers fast. Because if the playoffs are still the goal, there’s no more room for missteps-or miscommunication.