Mike McDaniel Says Dolphins Will Talk to NFL About Josh Allen Fumble Controversy

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said he plans to speak with the NFL about a potential missed call on what appeared to be a kneeldown fumble by Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen in the final seconds of Thursday's first half against the Dolphins.

Allen seemingly fumbled the snap, but officials whistled for the play to end before the Dolphins defense could pursue the ball.

"It was a great exercise in my mental discipline. I saw it. I knew what happened, and I also saw the whistle blow, and then I saw them run it in," McDaniel told reporters at the 28:00 mark of his Friday media availability. "So I ran in to prepare for the second half, knowing that he'd just fumbled, or I thought they did, at least.

"So, we'll be in talks with the league. I haven't gotten any feedback yet. But live speed, it appeared to me that it was a fumble, with the assumption it was a clean center-quarterback exchange. But we'll see how the league rules it."

The Bills kept the ball to open the third quarter and finished off the drive with a touchdown.

The Dolphins stayed within one score of tying the game up until the team's second-to-last possession, which ended when linebacker Terrel Bernard picked off Tua Tagovailoa to seal the Bills' 31-21 win.

In response to why he didn't protest the second-quarter non-call in the moment, McDaniel said, "For me, I really work at not expending emotional energy on past things that I can't fix.

McDaniel continued, "I'll get mad on game day if I think whatever I'm getting mad at will have an effect on stuff moving forward. Otherwise, I don't think it's appropriate for everyone to wait around while I have an adult temper tantrum. I ran inside and worked on the plays coming out of the half."

Should the NFL decide to take a closer look at the play, investigation might surround whether Allen got his knee down to end the play before losing the ball.

If the league decides there was a missed call on the play, there's a chance all 32 franchises could hear about it. The NFL recently addressed a Week 2 officiating mistake in a memo sent to all teams, according to the Washington Post's Mark Maske.

That memo identifide a missed false start call on a tush push play by the Philadelphia Eagles in a win over the Kansas City Chiefs, then advised officials on how to avoid the same mistake in the future, Maske reported.

McDaniel will now turn his attention to preparing for a Week 4 matchup with the New York Jets on Monday, Sept. 9. Despite arguably his team's best performance of the season, the 0-3 Dolphins are now off to their worst start since McDaniel took over the program in 2022.