Mike McDaniel Slaying Goliaths; Eagles Flying High; Brandon Staley Doesn't Get It; Kingsbury Gambles; Have Jaguars Arrived?

Mike McDaniel wasn't the first choice. And at maybe 160 pounds and bespectacled, he doesn't look like he'd ever be an NFL head coach choice at all. But here is McDaniel and his beautiful mind mastery of offensive football leading the Miami Dolphins to a 3-0 record.

McDaniel, the rookie head coach that Dolphins ownership hired after an attempt to hire Sean Payton collapsed, is off to quite an amazing career start.

He's running the AFC's only unbeaten team after the season's first month.

Don Shula didn't start his Dolphins career 3-0. Only Jimmy Johnson did that his first season in 1996 before stuff began to go wrong and that club flamed out, finishing 8-8.

That's probably ancient history to McDaniel, but so was the seven-game losing skid Miami suffered against the Buffalo Bills -- a slide he inherited. That skid, dating back to 2018, is gone now courtesy of Miami's 21-19 victory on Sunday.

It was a wild game with a wild finish in which the Bills simply could not figure out how to successfully run a spike play just before halftime and again at the game's end.

McDaniel afterward was given a chance to distance himself from that seven-game skid but he didn't do that. He knew his players, still new to him, cared about it.

So he did what a good coach would do. He cared about it.

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - September 11: Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel walks the sidelines during the game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins, on Sunday, September 11, 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Miami Hired Mike McDaniel In February Of 2022

"I think it meant something to everybody," McDaniel said. "I talked to the guys about it, and you’re not there, but you’ve been in the league long enough, and I’ve been on both sides of the coin where you’ve had a streak against a team and then you’ve been on the poor side of the streak as well."

McDaniel then added: "I just told the team that it doesn’t matter that we weren’t here. That at some point or just because now moving forward we’re a part of that streak, so at some point in time we’re going to have to handle that. Otherwise, we’re going to keep hearing about it."

It shows wisdom to embrace reality rather than work to avoid it. And by doing that and other things, such as lifting previously battered quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, McDaniel is rewriting some new facts for his team.

Here's a fact: McDaniel has beaten Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Sean McDermott to begin his head coaching career.

He's brought to Miami an offense that can be dynamic -- and how else to describe what the Dolphins did during their 4-touchdown outburst in the fourth quarter last week and completing a 45-yard pass play on a third-and-22 situation Sunday?

One more thing: McDaniel's latest victory comes over a team that has won the AFC East two consecutive years and was (past tense) the favorite to win it again before this game was played. Maybe that's changing now because the Dolphins definitely got everyone's attention.

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - SEPTEMBER 25: Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) runs with the ball during the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins on September 25, 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fl. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"It was special for everyone involved in that regard, as special as a Week 3 regular season game can be, I will say that much," McDaniel said. "But we know that we’re going to see them again. If they at all took us lightly at all, I promise you they won’t again, so we’re going to get their best shot.

"That is a really, really, really good football team. So that’s why what I’m happy about most is that our team battled against what’s as good of a team that exists in the National Football League."

That's such a promising start to the season for the Dolphins. McDaniel's next assignment, of course, is to maintain the current arc.

Past Dolphins 3-0 teams -- in 2002, 2013 and 2018 -- dropped off and failed to deliver on early promises.

That part of history would be just fine for Mike McDaniel to avoid.

What Was Brandon Staley Thinking?

The Jacksonville Jaguars and were leading the Los Angeles Chargers, 38-10 with under 5 minutes to play Sunday when coach Brandon Staley sent quarterback Justin Herbert onto the field with the rest of the offense to close out the game.

This may not sound strange to you unless you know Herbert is playing with fractured rib cartilage that had him considering a pain-deadening injection, which Herbert wouldn't confirm he took.

The point is the Chargers were four touchdowns down and the face of their franchise was on the field playing injured with less than 5 minutes to play.

This is where Staley looks very bad. Because Herbert wanted to play and rather than save the player from himself, Staley let the player dictate the situation.

Staley looked bad well before this moment because his very talented team is 1-2. And his defense that features Nick Bosa, Khalil Mack, J.C. Jackson and Derwin James gave up 38 points.

But he looks really sketchy for exposing Herbert those final meaningless minutes.

"That was just the decision that we made," Staley said. "It was about us finishing that game as a team. It was important to us that we did it."

INGLEWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 25: Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) is hit after throwing a pass during the NFL regular season game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Los Angeles Chargers on September 25, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

That's a ridiculous non-explanation and a smart guy such as Staley has to recognize that. And yet he staunchly defended the idea of playing his injured quarterback because, well, he's going to keep playing and the nature of the injury is that he'll be dealing with pain for several more weeks.

So what's five more minutes during a blowout?

"I understand your entire line of questioning, I understand it," Staley insisted. "Justin is going to be feeling like this when he's out there playing. This injury is going to be there for a while. If you guys know the injury, it's not like it's going to feel better next week or the week after that. This thing is going to be present for a while. He felt good today. We're going to continue managing it best we can."

Herbert apparently didn't aggravate his injury. That's not the point. Still a bad approach by the coach.

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals looks on against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at State Farm Stadium on October 10, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

What Was Kliff Kingsbury Thinking?

The Arizona Cardinals faced a fourth-and-1 from their 20-yard line on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams and coach Kliff Kingsbury went for it.

From. His. Own. 20.

Running back James Conner actually ran for 5 yards to convert.

Desperation? Well, yeah a little bit.

The Cardinals are lacking a consistent dynamic playmaker, with DeAndre Hopkins suspended. And on their first series of Sunday's game the offense didn't move the ball and then a fourth-down punt was partially blocked.

The Rams scored after that and never really seemed threatened.

But Kingsbury tried. Five times he went for it on fourth down and they converted four.

But despite the gambling, Rams 20, Cards 12.

Eagles Flying High

The Eagles left the field Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 record and chants of MVP, MVP cascading down on quarterback Jalen Hurts.

This game was played in Washington.

And what if I told you Hurts threw for 291 yards and 3 TDs against the Commanders by halftime?

The Eagles held a 24-0 lead in this one until the fourth quarter and now they have the look of an improving and maturing football team that seems bound to get better. Watch out for the Eagles, people.

That's me saying that, of course. The Eagles are saying something akin to, "don't mind us while we get back to work," or something trite like that.

"Don't ride the wave of the season," coach Nick Sirianni said he's told his team. "And that's always going to be my message whether we're 2-5 like we started last year or 3-0 in this particular case. Because we see 3-0 teams, 5-0 teams start hot all the time but it's just about going back to work. Because this game will humble you very quickly if you get too high."

Looking at the schedule and the way the Eagles are playing, the next time they might have to worry about being humbled might not come until they play Green Bay Nov. 27.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 15: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts as he walks off the field after defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 27-24 at Arrowhead Stadium on September 15, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The AFC Best To Worst

Remember not that long ago when pundits such as, well, me were writing the AFC West was the NFL's best division and there could be three playoff teams coming out of the division in 2022?

It made sense at the time because Denver, Las Vegas, and the Los Angeles Chargers all loaded up on talent in the offseason either via free agency or through trade. The Chiefs, meanwhile, drafted well, made the most of a rough cap situation and, ultimately, they have Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.

So, everyone seemed loaded.

Well the AFC West doesn't have the look of a super division right now.

The Chiefs lost to the previously winless Colts on Sunday as we got a glimpse of the touchy relationship between quarterback Patrick Mahomes and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy prior to halftime that all the parties involved have said since last year doesn't actually exist.

Los Angeles got clobbered by the Jaguars at home and that's their second consecutive loss.

The Raiders are the NFL's only 0-3 team. And the Broncos, well, they currently lead the division after they pulled out an 11-10 barnburner over the 49ers in which they punted 10 times and impressed no one.

AFC West teams have a 1-3 record against teams from the far less reputable AFC South.

Speaking of the AFC South ...

The Jaguars lead the AFC South after winning two consecutive games.

So quarterback Trevor Lawrence, with 6 TDs in only 3 games compared to 12 TDs in 17 games last season, is thinking very big.

"The way we've played, you can't deny that we are a really good team," Lawrence said after throwing three of his scoring passes against the Chargers. "But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what they say about us; we know who we are."

Coach Doug Pederson, doing a fine job, knows who the Jaguars are. And he's not quite ready to publicly crown his team because the would be really dumb. But Pederson's encouraged.

"I think it's still too early to tell," Pederson said when asked if the Jags have turned the proverbial corner. "We're still young and we're still learning how to win and how to do all that stuff. This was just a great step in that direction."

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - SEPTEMBER 11: Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions looks on during the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Ford Field on September 11, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

The Stat Story

* First we believed Cordarrelle Patterson was a kick returner because that’s what he was in Minnesota. Then we believed he was a wide receiver because that was his next thing. Now? He’s a running back for sure because he gained a career high 141 rushing yards and scored a rushing touchdown on 17 carries against the Seahawks.

*Strange day for Lions coach Dan Campbell because his team was not just bad, but historically bad on third down, converting only 18.8 percent of its 16 third-down plays, which was its worst mark since 2018 -- and the Lions have played a lot of bad football since then.

Anyway, Campbell figured the only way to extend drives was go for it on fourth down and the Lions responded by converting 4 of 6 for 66.7 percent.

But amazingly, with only 1:14 to play and the Lions clinging to a 24-21 lead Campbell could have closed the door on the Vikings with another fourth-down conversion, the coach opted for a 54-yard field goal attempt.

The Lions missed. The Vikings got the ball at the spot of the miss, their 44-yard line, and marched to the winning TD.

"There was about three scenarios going on," Campbell said afterward. "I'm not going to say what one of them was but I just felt like, you know what, let's kick a field goal. We go up by six and force them to score a touchdown for the win. They had no timeouts.

"Should have gone for it."

* Eight teams -- Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Miami, Minnesota and the New York Giants -- have won at least two of their first three games this season after missing the postseason in 2021. 

Follow on Twitter: @ArmandoSalguero