MIAMI GARDENS — Mike McDaniel was introduced to the intensity of the rivalry between the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills by a middle finger, as he put it.
It was the image of former Dolphins linebacker Bryan Cox, in 1993, walking out through the tunnel at Rich Stadium, now known as Highmark Stadium, greeting Bills fans with two outstretched arms and middle fingers.
“I was like, ‘Woah, that’s intense’ when I was young,” said McDaniel, who would’ve been 10 years old at the time and a young Denver Broncos fan growing up in Colorado. “As a kid and off the rip, I was like, ‘That’s a different set of fanbases that are both very prideful, so stuff is going to pop off.’ ”
Thirty-two years later, it seems possible the Bills could present McDaniel, who said he has been on the receiving end of ample middle fingers from Buffalo fans in his own right, something much worse than the ugly gesture — his walking papers.
McDaniel, early in Year 4 leading the Dolphins, is trying to make sure the sight of him walking off the field through that same tunnel as Cox isn’t the last image of him as coach of the franchise when he leads Miami (0-2) into the immense challenge of facing the AFC East rival Bills (2-0) in their house on a short week with the “Thursday Night Football” spotlight on the two teams.
Realistically, it would probably take a lot for McDaniel to lose his job this early in 2025. The last time a team and coach parted ways after three games of an NFL season it was the 2000 Cincinnati Bengals moving on from Bruce Coslet.
The decision on what margin of victory or how bad a feeling it must be leaving Orchard Park, as the Dolphins enter 12-point underdogs, ultimately comes down to owner Steve Ross — if he’s even considering firing his coach at this point. But he certainly has to feel the pressure from fans, who flew a banner calling for both McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier to lose their jobs, as the team failed to make deep playoff runs with a ready-to-win roster in 2022 and 2023, missed the postseason in 2024 and is quickly headed for a lost cause in 2025.
But under McDaniel, it’s usually been when no one gives the Dolphins a chance in western New York that the team competes until the waning minutes.
There was the 32-29 2022 snow game coming off back-to-back losses on the West Coast, the playoff game a month later with rookie third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson in it until the final drive, and last year’s 61-yard field goal to win it when the Dolphins entered 2-5.
McDaniel has said he remains focused on the task at hand through the noise. He only concerned himself with calling the game at Sunday’s home opener against the Patriots.
“Buffalo,” he simply replied Monday when a reporter asked how he keeps his sanity amid the adversity.
His players, who largely back him, see the same thing.
“Mike is not bothered,” wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “Mike is going to be himself. He’s always stayed poised and always looked out for what’s in the team’s best interest inside and out. Mike’s just been Mike.”
And no matter how bad it gets, they take the same approach to their roles.
“I don’t care what our record is,” defensive tackle Zach Sieler said. “We’re going to Buffalo. We’ve got to go set the tone up there.”
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Waddle, who comes from playing his college football at Alabama, said he stays away from the “rat poison,” what former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban would famously say about outside talk and attention on a team.
If the Dolphins are going to compete against the Bills, they must find a way to contain quarterback Josh Allen, who has scored 45 total touchdowns in his 15 matchups with Miami, including playoffs, and is the reigning league MVP.
“They got a good quarterback, and they do things the right way over there,” said Dolphins cornerback Rasul Douglas, who spent two years with Buffalo. “Being in that building, they do things the right way. They got a system of how they run things and how they do things, and everybody just follows.”
Said linebacker Tyrel Dodson, also a former Bill, of defending Allen: “Just getting him off schedule, maintaining him in the pocket, and just try to fluster him. I think if we do those things, I think we’ll come out with the (win).”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was brutally honest in comparing himself and Allen on Tuesday.
“He’s top-tier,” Tagovailoa said. “If it’s not with his arm, it’s with his legs. That dude can do anything he wants. Definitely different skill set from me. I can’t do half of what he does when it comes to running the ball and then with how he can just chuck a ball down the field with how far and the arm strength that he has. He’s supreme when it comes to that.”
Added Douglas: “He’s one of — well, the best — quarterback in the league. He’s the MVP. He can do it all. He can run, throw. It doesn’t matter.”
The offense, beyond Tagovailoa’s turnovers and sacks taken behind a banged-up right side of the offensive line and inexperienced left side, must fix communication mishaps it had with personnel groupings late in the loss to New England.
McDaniel, offensive coordinator Frank Smith and Tagovailoa have all said the team quickly devised a plan to streamline communication between the sideline to the huddle in something Waddle said is definitely correctable.
The Dolphins-Bills rivalry runs deep for even its newcomers.
Rookie left guard Jonah Savaiinaea, on Tuesday, wouldn’t even say their name, calling the Bills “them up north.”
As Buffalo prepares to open a new stadium next season, the Dolphins hope their likely final trip to the stadium that’s been home to the Bills since 1973 is memorable for a stunning upset pulled off and not because it led to the end for their coach.
Originally Published: September 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM EDT