BUFFALO — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel was not pleased with how officials handled the final play of the first half in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills.
After the Dolphins scored a touchdown to tie the game, 14-14, the Bills were merely lining up for a kneeldown in the final seconds before halftime.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen mishandled the snap for a fumble. He started to take the snap with his right knee on the ground, fumbled as he lifted that knee and then quickly put his left knee down and back up as he began to pick up the loose ball.
With Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler and cornerback Jack Jones still alertly tracking Allen and the football, Allen suavely ran backward with the ball to toss it to the head referee as officials blew their whistles.
“I saw it. I knew what happened,” McDaniel said in a Friday web conference with reporters following Thursday night’s 31-21 defeat in Orchard Park. “I also saw the whistle blow and I saw them run in, so then I ran in to prepare for the second half knowing that he just fumbled — or I thought they did at least.”
It may have been inconsequential, even if it were ruled a fumble and the Dolphins recovered, because time expired on the play after there were only two seconds left in the first half to start the down. But if the whistles weren’t blown and the referee didn’t catch the ball as Allen tossed it backward to him, Jones might’ve had a chance to return the fumble for a touchdown. In an alternate universe, it would’ve been a brutal mental lapse by Allen, last year’s MVP.
McDaniel said the Dolphins will be in contact with the league over the ruling.
“I haven’t gotten any feedback yet, but live-speed, it appeared to me that it was a fumble,” he said. “It was of the assumption that it was a clean center-quarterback exchange, but we’ll see how the league rules it.”
On the field in the moment, McDaniel decided there was nothing officials could do to change the ruling, so he opted not to argue as the teams and officials ran inside for the intermission.
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“It was a great exercise in my mental discipline,” the Dolphins coach said. “I really work at not expending emotional energy on past things that I can’t fix. I’ll get mad on game day if I think whatever I’m getting mad at will have an effect on stuff moving forward. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s appropriate for everyone to wait around while I have an adult temper tantrum. I ran inside and worked on the plays coming out of the half.”
This story will be updated.
