Perhaps no two coaches in the NFL (aside from Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels) know each other better than Mike McDaniel and Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco’s success as the #7 total yardage offense a year ago helped McDaniel land the head coaching job in Miami as he prepares to meet his former team in the Dolphins at 49ers betting preview.
McDaniel has led Miami to an 8-3 record in his first head coaching gig after being San Francisco’s offensive coordinator a season ago. The 49ers (7-4) haven’t taken much of a dip offensively (10th in total yards) but at the same time have built up the #1 defense in the NFL. San Francisco is a -4.5 favorite in one of the more interesting matchups of the weekend.
Dolphins Back on Track
Any wins are tough in the NFL, but Miami beating Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Houston on their current 5-game win streak can best be described as…expected. Prior to that the Dolphins lost three in a row when they played decent teams – 27-15 at Cinncinnati, 40-17 at the Jets, and 24-16 vs Minnesota – so what’s going to happen in the trip to Levi’s Stadium?
The McDaniel vs his former team angle seems like talking heads stuff, but you can’t discount that he’s coordinated against this defense every day in practice since 2017. This is going to be a great chess match with Tua Tagovailoa throwing for 19 TDs/3 INTs on the year, Tyreek Hill having an MVP-like season with 1,233 yards already, and Jaylen Waddle close to 1,000 receiving yards himself at 963.
Miami’s defense has done a good job of holding opponents to 16 ppg the last two weeks, but both of those games were at home and they came against Cleveland and Houston. The 49ers have scored 30+ in two of the last four since Christian McCaffrey got integrated into the offense so the Dolphins should be prepared to get into a shootout here.
Time to Humble the Former OC
McDaniel was almost a surprising hire by the Dolphins in the offseason after just one year as O.C of the 49ers, but he did some great things in the Bay – especially getting Deebo Samuel involved in the San Francisco offense in somewhat unconventional ways.
Shanahan should get some coach of the year considerations, starting with losing exepcted QB Trey Lance early in the season and then switching back to Jimmy Garoppollo who was almost traded in the offseason. Garoppolo has 16 TDs to just 4 INTs on the season, and threw 4 TDs a couple weeks ago against Arizona.
Free Dolphins at 49ers Betting Pick
You can throw a lot of the trends out the window here, because this is going to be one of those ‘intangible’ type matchups where McDaniel tries to get the best of his former team. The former 49ers OC left on relatively good terms, but there’s an ego thing involved where you still want to show who was really responsible for the 49ers offensive success last season. With McDaniel and Shanahan both pulling out all the stops for their respective teams, the only way to play this one is by banking on the offenses.
Free Pick: Over 45.5
