MIAMI — For the first time in this miserable season, after Sunday’s debacle, I would not be surprised if the Miami Dolphins fired coach Mike McDaniel very soon, and I would not argue that it was too soon.

It might be time.

This is not to say a coaching change is imminent or will even happen in-season; only owner Stephen Ross knows that.

But it might be time

Sunday’s 31-6 embarrassment of a loss in Cleveland that dropped Miami’s record to 1-6 was the latest evidence of a team spinning wheels in the mud, a team making the same self-sabotaging mistakes and a head coach seemingly bereft of answers.

“We have to stop having self-inflicted wounds,” McDaniel told the TV sideline reporter at halftime.

He had said that before this year. Many, many times. He’s a broken record, as broken as his team’s record. Yet the mistakes keep happening. And the wounds keep hurting.

Soon after the coach said that, the second half began with Tua Tagovailoa’s pass bouncing off De’Von Achane’s fingertips, intercepted and returned 34 yards for a touchdown and a 24-6 Dolphins deficit. The Browns had gone 11 straight games dating to last season not scoring more than 17 in game, the NFL’s second-longest such streak since 2000.

Four Dolphins turnovers, three of them Tagovailoa picks, led to most of Cleveland’s points. Miami’s defense actually played pretty well, but got stabbed by turnovers.

“Definitely not happy, not proud of where I’m at with my play, with how I’ve gone about things this year,” the quarterback said afterward. “I’ve got to be a lot better. I’ve been better for the Dolphins years past. But this isn’t years past.”

Fins also had 11 penalties, most of them on defense.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Tagovailoa said.

“We kind of gave them everything they got today,” said defensive stalwart Bradley Chubb — meaning his team’s mistakes, not his defense.

Chubb lauded the team’s defensive attitude.

“That’s the most energy I’ve felt on defense all season,” he said. But of the turnovers and penalties he added, “That’s the vampire. It sucks out the energy.”

Said McDaniel: “The defense did not quit, in a situation that was pretty difficult.”

McDaniel obviously knows the job pressure he is under but said Sunday of that outside noise: “I find it very offensive to all parties involved if I’m thinking of having a job. I need to be doing a job. I refuse to spend my time thinking about something else. You do hard truth in this league. You are always held accountable.”

He added, “No person, no player, no coach has their hands clean, starting with me. We all have to do a better job, do our jobs better. This is a step back.”

It rained steadily Sunday in Cleveland, if not hard. The wind was gusty, though not as strong as expected based on erroneously exaggerated weather forecasts.

The conditions offered Miami no excuses. The Dolphins have run out of those. Cleveland also entered the game 1-5. Bad team met bad team. The worst of them flew home more desperate than ever. God bless the New York Jets, the only team Miami has proved slightly less worse than.

The Dolphins last started a season 1-6 in 2021, but rallied to finish 9-8 and narrowly miss the playoffs. Miami was 2-6 last season but then won three straight and six of nine to, again, almost make the playoffs.

Not good enough either time. And this ‘25 squad has not shown the backbone of resolve to inspire any such turnaround, especially after the club’s inner-turmoil was laid bare last week with Tagovailoa’s post-loss remarks about some players missing or tardy for players-only meetings.

Tagovailoa wound up apologizing. (We have yet to hear an apology from those unnamed players who were AWOL or missing from those meetings.)

These Dolphins might not need to willfully “tank” with next year’s draft position in mind. The losses may keep coming anyway. A trip to Atlanta is next. Even all the ”winnable” games left should look scary to the bumbling, fumbling Fins.

Cleveland led 3-0 on a drive gifted by a pair of Dolphins defensive penalties, Rasul Douglas’ missed interception and a couple of missed tackles.

Miami tied it 3-3, set up by Achane’s 46-yard run. Who knew that would be it for Fins highlights on the day?

Cleveland was up 10-3 on Quinshon Judkins’ 46-yard TD run as the worst run defense in the NFL showed itself once more. Of course, it only happened when an interception by Miami’s Ashtyn Davis was erased by teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick’s penalty.

Fins gave it right back when Dee Eskridge fumbled the ensuing kickoff, leading to a 46-yard scoring drive that included a roughing flag against Jaelan Phillips. Judkins’ 3-yard run made it 17-3, which, on this day, felt as insurmountable as it proved to be.

Miami desperately needed a TD before the half but settled for a 26-yard field goal as time expired.

That’s when McDaniel (his record in Miami falling to 29-31 including two playoff losses) bemoaned all of the “self-inflicted wounds” before yet another began the second half.

Miami’s third turnover of the game sealed it in the fourth as Tagovailoa’s second interception came out of the end zone and was returned to Miami’s 2-yard line. A Judkins score quickly following for 31-6.

Then came Miami’s fourth turnover and Tagovailoa’s third pick.

Soon after that Tagovailoa was mercy benched, replaced with eight minutes left by rookie Quinn Ewers. The kid’s first pass should have been intercepted. He recovered his own fumble on the third snap. That kind of day. That kind of season.

At one point late in the game a CBS announcer opined, “This is a bad look for the Miami Dolphins.”

Ya think!?

This was an avalanche of ineptitude, failure of the worst kind.

Something needs to change.

It might be the head coach.

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