A touch of the early ‘Miami Mike’ returned last week when coach Mike McDaniel — who insisted he was simply driving home — drove straight past a Buffalo Bills watch party after his Dolphins upset them.
Linebacker Bradley Chubb didn’t let the moment go unnoticed. ‘Man, coach Mike is the petty king,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘He said he was on his way home. He just happened to go by. I don’t know if he did it on purpose, but he is the petty king for sure.’
The small jibe mattered. Beyond the dent to Buffalo’s AFC East standing, the episode gave Miami a chance to enjoy a long-missing spark after a difficult start to the season.
The Dolphins have won two of their last three games after opening the year 1-6 and facing the prospect of a lost campaign. Their next assignment is in Madrid, where they will play the Washington Commanders at Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Spain.
Chubb said the club has had high expectations all along and that the early setbacks forced the team to regroup. ‘We talked all season about blocking out the noise and focusing on us — they talk, we do,’ he said. After getting ‘punched in the mouth’ early on, the team had to reinvent itself and stay the course, he added.
Against Buffalo, Miami showed the kind of complementary football the locker room believes it can produce. Running back De’Von Achane flipped field position with explosive carries, and a defence that had faced criticism clamped down on Josh Allen and James Cook.
At 3-7 it may be late for playoff hopes, but Chubb sees the victory as a turning point. ‘I’m using it as the catalyst,’ he said. ‘We saw what happens when we play complementary football in all three phases. There’s no going back from that.’ He also welcomed the challenge of playing in a new country and environment, calling it another form of adversity the team has been prepared for all season.
Chubb described the locker room as ‘delusional’ — but he meant that in a positive way: from the outside, ambitious goals might sound unrealistic, yet that belief is necessary to achieve them. ‘If you don’t have that mentality, you’re not going to do it,’ he explained, noting the importance of unity and leaders who keep everyone focused.
Chubb himself has been through his share of adversity. Rumours circulated about a possible trade ahead of the November 4 deadline, and injuries have cost him time on the field. He told teammates he drew confidence from past comebacks: after sitting out with knee problems he returned and made his first Pro Bowl a season later. He leads Miami with five sacks this season and had 11 sacks and six forced fumbles in his first full Dolphins season in 2023.
For now, the Dolphins are intent on building from the upset and sustaining the level of play that brought them the win. How they respond in Madrid will say a lot about whether this is a genuine turning point or a brief reprieve in a challenging season.