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

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

With LA needing a win to keep pace with the Cardinals and 49ers in the NFC West, Monday night is an opportunity to make Mike McDaniel rue the day he agreed to play games after 4 p.m. Eastern train.

It’s one thing to be 2-9 in prime time, but the Dolphins were so much worse at night than during the day that it’s worth studying further.

2022 Dolphins primetime games

• Miami went 1-3 in prime time compared to 8-5 in the 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 took the lead again, 9-8.

2023 Dolphins primetime games

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

This is the best McDaniel team we’ve seen so far, but in prime time it means playing against better opponents, and playing against better opponents means we won’t be as successful a football team. Not in prime time, the Dolphins still lost 48:20 to the Bills and 56:19 to the Ravens. Great teams don’t lose by more than 28 points, and when they do, they don’t tend to do so multiple times.

2024 Dolphins primetime games

• 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 daily record: 20-13

Since the Rams are at home, they will play with a body clock of 5:15 tonight, compared to 8:15 for Miami’s players. How important is that?

It’s worth noting that both Dolphins primetime wins came on the East Coast (one at home, one in New England) and that they lost in primetime to the Chargers in 2022, McDaniel’s only away primetime game on the West Coast 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 on the light.