The last time Mike McDaniel was on the coaching staff of a team that was about to go into a frigid environment to face a conference-leading opponent as a road underdog, his team pulled it off.
It was last January. His San Francisco 49ers upset the NFC’s top-seeded Green Bay Packers 13-10 in a divisional-round playoff game.
“Early in the week, that team decided that it wasn’t going to be an issue,” McDaniel recalled from the week of preparation as his current team, the Miami Dolphins (8-5), stare at the challenge of playing the 10-3 Bills at Highmark Stadium with temperatures in the low 30s and dipping into the 20s with snowfall and wind on Saturday night.
San Francisco hung in for four quarters in single-digit temperatures at Lambeau Field in that postseason game. The 49ers scored a tying touchdown late on a blocked punt and had a Robbie Gould 45-yard field goal as time expired punch their ticket to the NFC Championship Game.
McDaniel has only coached one NFL season for what he called a cold-weather team. That was 2014 in Cleveland. But he’s a believer that a warm-weather or dome team can find success in the elements by not making it more than it has to be.
“The power of the mind is stronger than people realize,” he said. “It’s something that can be embraced when you kind of realize that everyone’s going through it, as well — all of your teammates are.”
The first-year Dolphins coach, who takes this team into inclement weather for the first time after it lucked out with 60-degree temperatures in Chicago and played under a roof the previous week in Detroit, feels Miami has that toughness.
“I think that strong-minded will is a characteristic that I’ve seen in this team,” McDaniel said. “It’s gone through some stuff already, and as a young team, went through stuff early in the season and going through some stuff now. I think that can be healthy if you have the will and the spirit, and I see a lot of guys that are capable of that and that’s my hope moving forward on Saturday.”
There’s two sides to the approach. On one hand, the Dolphins aren’t making it a big deal. On the other, McDaniel is embracing it, wearing a shirt that read “I wish it were colder” at Wednesday and Thursday practices, a switch-up on Miami’s offseason and training camp mantra of “I wish it were hotter” during grueling workouts in the South Florida heat and humidity.
“That was not intended to be anything but something that is just kind of a mentality for the team,” McDaniel said of the messaging Thursday. “Philosophically, I think it’s important to acknowledge before the day of the game what it is. But at the same time, it’s a football game where the elements are the same for both people. I think that’s a way of emphasizing something but not obsessing about something.”
One thing last year’s 49ers had in pulling off a playoff upset at Lambeau was a strong defense — one that is ranked No. 1 this season and that the Dolphins experienced two weeks ago — that spearheaded the effort in shutting Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense out of the end zone after the opening series.
It would help if the Dolphins defense would travel better. In six home games, Miami has given up 15.3 points and 276.8 total yards per game. In seven road games, the Dolphins have allowed opponents to score 31.4 points per game and pile up 387.1 yards per game. Sure, the 23 points the Chargers were held to last Sunday is the lowest Miami has allowed all season on the road, but the Dolphins defense still didn’t get off the field, with methodical drives allowing L.A. to nearly double Miami in time of possession.
“I think there’s been times where we’ve played good segmented football on the road. I think there’s been times where obviously we haven’t played very well,” defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said. “But I do think there’s some instances where we’ve played really good football. I think it’s just to string together 60 minutes of good football, to allow our team to play complementary football, I think that’s what we’re striving to do whether we’re home or away.”
The Dolphins could stand to control the clock better and play that complementary football if they establish the run, something they’ve struggled with all season as the league’s 29th-ranked rushing offense. This despite McDaniel’s history in that realm as 49ers run-game coordinator before his promotion to offensive coordinator last year.
“I’ve always valued the run game,” McDaniel said. “I think you guys have followed my career enough to know that I’ve been involved in it and have always really seen the line of scrimmage as the place where games are won and lost.
“I think that when you’re able to control the clock and have the ball, that’s always an advantage so that won’t change. Hopefully, we’ll be happier with our output this coming week in the great weather.”
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