The Dolphins offense has been difficult for teams to stop this season, but the Eagles did a good job of it on Sunday night.
Miami gained 244 yards and their offense put up 10 points in a 31-17 loss that dropped the Dolphins to 5-2 on the season. It was the second time that the Dolphins have gone on the road against a team with a winning record this year and the second time that they have wound up on the wrong side of a final score, which led to a press conference question for head coach Mike McDaniel about how his team adjusts to that kind of atmosphere.
McDaniel said that the team can make the most of the defeat by making sure that it turns into a learning experience for them.
“You can learn everything,” McDaniel said. “It was a very important thing. I kind of knew that going into the game that it was going to be that type of atmosphere and I think that’s very important for our team being on the younger side to experience. Those are critical. You have to feel what it’s like to play such a good team on the road. Your margin for error is so small, and it’s an important building block along your progression for the season, you know. If you’re going to lose games, you want it to be against a really good team, and you want it to hurt. The collection of coaches and players in the locker room right now are hurting because they feel like they left some plays on the field for sure. You know, losses, if approached the right way, if you’re not pointing fingers and you’re looking internally, can be a good thing too. So that’s what we’ll be determined to make this moving forward, starting with tomorrow.”
The Dolphins will be back home to face the Patriots next Sunday and then they’ll go on the road to face the Chiefs in another game that will be seen as a measuring stick for where they are heading into the second half of the year. Their ability to learn from what went wrong on Sunday night will help shape the outcome of that matchup.
