Rams-Dolphins: Mike McDaniel’s historically poor record in primetime

On By Littum

The Rams can only worry about doing their job when faced Dolphins Monday night, but Miami head coach Mike McDaniel hasn’t fared well under the bright lights: The Dolphins are 2-9 in primetime games under McDaniel, with the only wins coming against Kenny Pickett and Mac Jones.

Needing a win Monday night to keep pace with the Cardinals and 49ers in the NFC West, LA’s opportunity to make Mike McDaniel regret the day he agreed to coach games after 1 p.m. 16. Eastern.

Being 2-9 in prime time is one thing, but the Dolphins have been so much worse at night than during the day that it’s worth a closer look.

2022 Dolphins primetime game

  • Miami went 1-3 in primetime compared to 8-5 in their other contests
  • Primetime: 32-29 loss to Bills, 23-17 loss to Chargers27-15 loss to Bengals, 16-10 win over Steelers
  • Playoffs: 34-31 loss to Bills (Tua Tagovailoa OUT)

McDaniel took over a 9-8 team from Brian Flores, and the Dolphins went 9-8 again.

2023 Dolphins primetime game

  • Miami went 1-4 in primetime, including a 26-7 wild card loss to the Chiefs
  • The Dolphins went 10-3 when it wasn’t prime time
  • 31-17 loss to Eagles, 28-27 loss to Titans, 21-14 loss to Bills, 24-17 win over Patriots

This is the best McDaniel team we’ve seen yet, but primetime means playing better opponents, and playing better opponents means not being as successful a football team. Not in primetime, the Dolphins still lost 48-20 to the Bills and 56-19 to the Ravens. Great teams don’t lose by 28+ points, and if they do, they usually don’t do it multiple times.

2024 Dolphins primetime game

  • 0-2, including a 31-10 loss to the Bills and a 31-12 loss to the Titans
  • Overall night record, including playoffs: 2-9
  • Overall day record: 20-13

Being at home, the Rams play tonight’s game with a 5:15 body clock compared to an 8:15 body clock for Miami’s players. How much does this mean?

It’s worth adding that both of the Dolphins’ primetime wins came on the East Coast (one at home, one in New England), and they lost to the Chargers in primetime in 2022, McDaniels’ only primetime West Coast road game to date.

There are plenty of signs pointing to a Rams win over the Dolphins on Monday night, which is probably scarier than finding out there isn’t one. Turn off the lights.