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The Ringer NFL Show

AFC Wild-Card Round Predictions, Plus Dolphins Fire Mike McDaniel!

09 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

6.241 - 9.107 Sheil Kapadia

Welcome to the Ringer NFL show.

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Chapter 2: What were the immediate reactions to Mike McDaniel's firing?

9.728 - 26.543 Sheil Kapadia

I am your host, Shiel Kapadia. Today, we are talking about the AFC playoff matchups. Bills at Jaguars, Chargers at Patriots, and of course, Monday night, Texans at Steelers. What are the headlines or the storylines that are going to come out of those games.

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Chapter 3: What are the predictions for the Bills vs. Jaguars wild-card game?

26.563 - 43.935 Sheil Kapadia

We're going to predict them. We'll also talk about the Mike McDaniel firing here at the top of the show. Our guest today is my friend from The Ringer, Austin Gale. Let's take a break. We come back with Austin, talk Mike McDaniel and AFC playoffs. The Ringer NFL show is presented by FanDuel.

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Chapter 4: What storylines will emerge from the Chargers vs. Patriots match-up?

44.295 - 68 Sheil Kapadia

FanDuel's got it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live and your way so you can build the bet that fits your play. Plus, don't miss out on the NFL playoffs all month long. Download the FanDuel app or head to FanDuel.com slash Ringer NFL to get started. 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem?

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Chapter 5: How do the Steelers and Texans stack up against each other?

68.02 - 100.33 Sheil Kapadia

Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. All right, we are back here on the Ringer NFL show with Austin Gale. We're going to talk about the AFC playoffs, Austin. But before we do that, coach firing. We always got to talk about the coach firing if there's a coach firing.

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100.711 - 105.283 Sheil Kapadia

And we're recording in Mike McDaniel days after the Dolphins season.

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Chapter 6: What are the implications of coaching changes in the NFL playoffs?

105.263 - 116.532 Sheil Kapadia

ends. They didn't do it immediately. They had some meetings, according to the reporting, and a certain prominent coach became available. I want to know if you thought that had anything to do with it. But the Miami Dolphins fire Mike McDaniel.

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Chapter 7: What factors will influence the outcome of the AFC wild-card games?

116.552 - 132.266 Sheil Kapadia

So let's start here. What do you think actually is happening in Miami? Is this linked to John Harbaugh becoming available? There's been a lot of reporting that their owner, Stephen Ross, is infatuated with John Harbaugh. Or do you think this is one where they just said, all right, we were on the fence.

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Chapter 8: How does the performance of key players impact playoff predictions?

132.626 - 135.068 Sheil Kapadia

We thought about it because that does happen. And we just

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135.048 - 152.55 Austin Gayle

I think it's it has to be a part of the conversation because I don't think you fire Mike McDaniel at this point, you know, belatedly. It kind of feels like if you don't look at the head coaching candidate pool and how it's affected by bringing in John Harbaugh, then there's all this stuff with like Stephen Ross is like one of the biggest.

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152.53 - 167.878 Austin Gayle

Donors in Michigan football history is a big Harbaugh fan. Like you could see it make a ton of sense for them to kind of want to go get John Harbaugh. But there's also been some reporting today that has come out about how the GM search is more important than even how they're feeling about the head coaching search. And they want to figure that out, too.

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167.938 - 183.691 Austin Gayle

And if you're Harbaugh and you're going to probably have your pick of any of the vacancies, I think a lot of the teams are going to be looking for Harbaugh to come in. I think the GM hire that they do make, if they don't make, is going to be a big piece of this, right? So I do think with Mike McDaniel, they felt like it was maybe time to move on.

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183.711 - 188.423 Austin Gayle

They're looking for a change of pace in terms of how that locker room is led and how the team is led overall.

188.925 - 207.794 Sheil Kapadia

Yeah, the thing with McDaniel is I think everyone agrees... great offensive coach, or at least very good offensive coach. He's kind of proven himself there. And if you just sat back four years ago and said, here's what his roster is going to be. They're going to go 35 and 33 and go to the playoffs twice. You'd be like, that kind of sounds to me like you probably did a pretty good job.

207.814 - 224.301 Sheil Kapadia

Like it's hard to make the case that another coach would have done so much more with that talent on Miami. I don't believe that to be the case. Now I do think while he was a great offensive schemer, I'm not sure about him in terms of the other stuff that comes along with being a head coach, the leadership, the culture, the players, the staff.

224.361 - 247.549 Sheil Kapadia

Remember, they let Vic Fangio go, who's now just the reason why the Eagles are winning games over the last two years. So there's that stuff that I'm not sure about. The film grinders, Austin, are just very excited about where is Mike McDaniel going? And I'll be honest, there are some exciting spots. Does he get paired with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens? Does he go to Washington with Jaden Daniels?

247.589 - 264.835 Sheil Kapadia

They let Cliff Kingsbury go. He's got a relationship with Dan Quinn. Mike McDaniel does. The Lions, I thought. would be interesting. They let John Morton go. I mean, he's playing indoors with Jared Goff and that talent. That had to be a little bit exciting. What was your most exciting, like, ooh, this would be really fun if Mike McDaniel went here spot?

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