The Miami Dolphins absolutely destroyed the Denver Broncos on Sunday 70-20. By scoring 70, the Dolphins tied the NFL record for the fourth-most points ever scored in a game, but here's thing, they actually could have scored more.
Miami hit the 70-point mark with roughly eight minutes left to play after De'Von Achane scored on a 67-yard run. After a failed drive by the Broncos, the Dolphins got the ball back knowing that if they scored a touchdown, they would break the NFL record for most points ever scored in a game. They also knew that if they just kicked a field goal, they would get to 73 points, which would tie the NFL record for the most points ever scored in a game (Chicago beat Washington 73-0 in the 1940 NFL title game).
Even though the Dolphins had their backups in, they still managed to drive down into Denver territory thanks to a 52-yard run by Chris Brooks. The big gain put the Dolphins at Denver's 23-yard line with just over two minutes remaining.
At that point, it would have been pretty simple for the Dolphins to get at least a field goal out of the drive, but Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel decided to take the high road. Instead of going for the record, McDaniel called for three runs up the middle to make it fourth down, and instead of attempting the field goal, he called for a kneel down that ended Miami's possession.
Following the game, McDaniel was asked about his decision to not go for NFL history.
"I'm very okay with the decision, and I think the team, notably the leaders of the team supported it, the captains supported it," McDaniel said. "It's not the way you want to get the record. I would hope that if the shoe was on the other foot, the opponent would feel the same way. That's called karma. I'm trying to keep good karma with the Miami Dolphins."
In the other locker room. Sean Payton definitely wasn't talking about karma. The Broncos coach admitted that his team got embarrassed.
Q. I know you said it's embarrassing, but this is kind of a historic game.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) September 24, 2023
SEAN PAYTON: I'm aware.
Q. Third time a team has scored 70 points over 700 yards-
SEAN PAYTON: What's the question? What's the question?
Q. How do you feel about it being historically embarrassing?
SEAN…
The embarrassment would have been worse for the Broncos if Miami had set the scoring record, but McDaniel didn't want to be chasing points in a game where his team had already scored 70.
"It felt like chasing points and chasing a record -- that's not what we came to the game to do," McDaniel said. "That doesn't have a bearing on the overall season outcome, and I just didn't -- I saw it as 10 times out of 10, you concede and kneel down in those situations because there was an attainable record that was cool, but the message that I thought it would send wasn't really in line with how I view things."
McDaniel definitely realized the significance of getting the record, but he didn't want to do it by running up the score.
"It would have been cool, but what we're trying to do, I think that would be talking out of both sides of my mouth if we went and tried to send the field goal team on and squeeze an extra three, that's not really what I'm about," McDaniel said.
The scary thing is that the Dolphins did all of this without Jaylen Waddle. The offense seems to be getting better every week, which should scare every other team in the NFL. For a closer look at all the records that the Dolphins set on Sunday, be sure to click here.
