The Dolphins’ abysmal play clock management on their final drive had NFL fans going nuts

It’s fair to say Mike McDaniel would want a redo of this pivotal fourth down moment that decided the Miami Dolphins season.

On Sunday, the Dolphins were down 34-31 against the heavily favored Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card but were pressing late in the game. The Dolphins had the ball at their 47-yard line with three and a half minutes to play in the fourth and were facing a third and two. Salvon Ahmed’s run up the gut ended short of the sticks, bringing up a fourth and one with the season essentially on the line for the Dolphins.

Thanks to earlier play clock shenanigans, the Dolphins had no time outs left, meaning this play was likely the last Miami would get offensively unless they converted. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, McDaniel and crew spent essentially all of the clock deliberating, with Miami finally stepping up to the line with four seconds left on the play clock. And that was after the play clock reset itself, giving the Dolphins even more time to come up with a fourth down call.

The result? A delay of game penalty which backed the Dolphins up and resulted in an eventual incomplete pass from Skylar Thompson to seal the deal.

This is absolutely pathetic!!! I’d be irate if I was a Dolphins fans!

Watch this!! pic.twitter.com/xn1TLD6CKn

— Matt Nahigian (@mattnahigian) January 15, 2023

This is not how you want your offense to look with 4 seconds left on the play clock 4th and 1 pic.twitter.com/KmLCBcwASG

— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) January 15, 2023

While it definitely seems like McDaniel thought the Dolphins picked up the first, causing confusion that stalled the team’s decision making, this was still completely unacceptable in such an important moment.

NFL fans were totally blown away by the Dolphins’ abysmal play clock management in what was their last offensive possession of the game.