The final home game of the 2024 Dolphins season is set for a late afternoon kickoff this Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams suffered narrow losses in Week 15, dropping their records to 6-8 and to the brink of elimination from the playoff contention. Whichever team emerges from this game victorious will have two more games to potentially win, and with a little help, could sneak their way into the postseason.
First things first, a reunion of teacher and pupil. Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel worked with 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan from 2006-2008, and then again from 2011-2021, culminating as the offensive coordinator of the 2021 Niners, who appeared in the NFC Championship Game that season.
"(In Houston), Gary Kubiak hired me independently of Kyle Shanahan," McDaniel reflected. "He thought that we would work well together and be able to complement each other, so he threw me in the receiver room and we started working. (Shanahan) put high expectations on me and held me very accountable and I'm very grateful to him for that and I wouldn't be here today without him."
McDaniel peeled off to the east coast in 2022 where he constructed one of the game's most dangerous offenses in Miami. The two teams met that season in what was the first game action for rookie quarterback Brock Purdy. The Niners would win that game by six points, proceeding to continue what would be a 12-game winning streak before falling short in the NFC Championship Game to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Just two years later, the Dolphins and Niners will reignite the cross-conference rivalry that began with Super Bowl XIX. A few critical plays in narrow losses going the wrong direction coupled with injury troubles have both of these talented rosters fighting to qualify for the postseason once again.
Those injuries could play a factor in this contest as well. It was reported Thursday that San Francisco running back Isaac Guerendo will miss Sunday's game. With Christian McCaffery, Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason already on injured reserve, the Niners will turn to their fifth different starting running back this season in presumably Patrick Taylor.
If the Dolphins can slow the Niners run game and create third-and-long situations, just like last week in Houston, it could be another low-scoring output from the opposition.
The Dolphins offense knows it will have to play a cleaner game than the four turnover performance against the Texans.
"Whether it was the best game you had, whether it was the worst game you had; you've got to learn how to move on from that because the next team doesn't care whether you won or not," quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. "They're focused on how they can stop you. We're focused on how we can get points on the board, focused on things that we can get better on."
Make sure to check out the Injury Report and the team's official social media accounts 90 minutes before kickoff to see who is active for the game.
Watch the game live on Sunday, December 22 at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS, and listen on the Dolphins Radio Network and view the Game Center for the latest coverage.
