‘Not in the business of hiding': Dolphins' Mike McDaniel says bring on unbalanced schedule | Habib

MIAMI GARDENS — The NFL may as well have put it in big, bold letters. In red. Then circled it for good measure.

When the league released its 2024 schedule last week, the first thing that caught the eye was that three of the first four Dolphins games are at Hard Rock Stadium.

So far, so good, you wanted to say.

Of course, there’s a price for that, and once you got past what may as well be the team’s second bye — a Nov. 24 home game against New England — the cost of doing business for Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins leaps into red-ink territory. If the Dolphins are going to have a successful 2024, they have to do something that they have been unable to accomplish in two prior seasons under McDaniel: beat good teams, especially on the road, at the business end of the season.

“When I saw the schedule, I was pretty excited,” McDaniel said.

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Excited? Under McDaniel, the Dolphins are 4-10 in games played in December and January, including 1-7 on the road. Although they made the playoffs both years, they haven’t exactly kicked the door in.

So?

“I’m not in the business of hiding,” McDaniel said.

Mike McDaniel puts a target on Dolphins' nagging ‘narrative'

That’s not McDaniel saying it because he has to. It’s McDaniel being McDaniel. He’s the one who, when asked for his takeaways on the schedule, began by meeting the issue head-on.

“If you’re wanting to change a narrative, you’re going to have an opportunity,” he said.

McDaniel added all games are hard, which sounds like coachspeak until you’re reminded of the words “Tennessee Titans.” So while he’s never one to assume victories even against a team such as the aforementioned Patriots, you get the feeling that if forced to draw up the Dolphins’ schedule from scratch in the next 10 minutes, McDaniel might sketch out anything that looks much different from its actual form.

Multiple times last season, McDaniel acknowledged the “narrative” surrounding the Dolphins. The worst-kept secret is they can’t beat good teams, especially on the road. Overall, the Dolphins are 3-12 against teams that made the playoffs these past two years. If they intend to even sniff the heights they seek to attain, that must change.

Things heat up on Thanksgiving Day at Green Bay

Starting on Thanksgiving, they get their chance. It’s a prime-time game at historic (and possibly frigid) Lambeau Field against Green Bay, on a short week with probably one meaningful practice. They return home to face the Jets, who may or may not be decent again. Then it’s three straight games against teams you can slot into the playoffs right now: at Houston, vs. San Francisco, at Cleveland. The finale is at the Jets.

“The opportunities down the stretch of the season are ones that this team at that point in time will be thirsting for,” McDaniel said.

That’s the springtime variation of McDaniel's mantra. If adversity really is opportunity, the Dolphins will be unwrapping all sorts of “opportunities” during the holiday season.

“These are the things that we’re trying to establish ourselves to take the next step as an organization,” McDaniel said. “We’re trying to do that anyway, so the fact that the schedule gives us the opportunity to do what we’re working tirelessly to try to accomplish, I thought it was fitting.

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“I guess I don’t go into the schedule with expectations. I think all games are hard. All teams, all opponents, are hard. You have to be a tough-minded football team to be your best at the end of the season.”

The Dolphins may have talked tough up to this point, but they haven’t played tough.

It’s not just a test for the 2024 Miami Dolphins.

It’s the test.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Unbalanced schedule is the test for Mike McDaniel, 2024 Miami Dolphins