Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins Intentionally Ran Fake Plays With Too Many Players After Catching Someone Filming Practice

As the Dolphins take on the Bengals on Thursday night, there is no concern that their plays were leaked. Miami and head coach Mike McDaniel were playing chess, not checkers.

Due to the impact of Hurricane Ian on Florida, the Dolphins traveled north a few days early. Prior to the game, on Wednesday afternoon, they got in their walkthrough at the University of Cincinnati.

However, during and shortly after practice, a SpyGate situation began to unfold. Videos from above Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium looking down on the field began to leak. Someone had filmed parts of Miami's practice and posted them online.

While the clips themselves were fairly insignificant, it is a big deal. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's health status was in question prior to the game, and the videos appear to reveal that he will be playing.

In addition, as is the case with anything in sports and in life, having access to an opponent's strategy is a significant advantage. If the Bengals got ahold of the clips, they might know what plays to look for out of certain formations.

However, as it would turn out, it doesn't matter. McDaniel and the Dolphins were one step ahead of the person who was filming the walkthrough and responsible for the leak.

According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, after noticing that they were being filmed, Miami ran its practice with too many players on the field. When you watch the clips, you can see that there were 12 men on the field for each play.

Miami Dolphins run walkthrough in Cincinnati with 12 players on the field.

This revelation leaves two options as for what went down:

If it is the first option, every single part of the video is completely irrelevant. If it is the second option, the video is mostly inconsequential, because Cincinnati would be unable to discern what was real and what was fake.

Either way, McDaniel could have called practice or had the spy removed. Instead, he played mind games and threw the onlookers off of the scent. Incredible.