Miami Dolphins

Dan Campbell defends decision to punt late vs. Cowboys

Published Nov. 23, 2015 11:04 a.m. ET

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Entering Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins' playoff chances weren't looking great. The Patriots are undefeated and the Bills are 5-4 and hold a wild-card berth ahead of the Dolphins.

With their loss to the Cowboys, the Dolphins' odds of making the postseason took a big hit as they're now 4-6 and on the outside looking in. A key play in that game came in the fourth quarter with the Dolphins trailing by 10 points.

Facing a fourth-and-6 at their own 47-yard line, Dan Campbell elected to punt, despite being down by 10 and only 6:37 left in the game. The defense had been struggling in the second half while the offense couldn't move the ball, which led Campbell to making the decision.

"I knew we'd pin them down there and our defense would stop them on three downs and I wouldn't have to use our timeouts," Campbell said via the Sun Sentinel. "And then they'd punt it back to us, we would score, we'd kick it to them, we'd use our three timeouts to stop them, get it back, score a touchdown, win the game."

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Campbell's plan didn't work. The Cowboys marched down the field, gained four first downs, and burned more than five minutes of clock. Darren McFadden gained more than 40 yards on ground by himself, burying the Dolphins' chances of a comeback.

In hindsight, Campbell's decision looked like the wrong one, but there's no guarantee the Dolphins would have converted that fourth-and-6. Center Mike Pouncey said he believes "it was the right decision," standing by his head coach. In the end, the game didn't come down to that one call -- it was their performance as a whole that doomed Miami.

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