Tua Tagovailoa fired off at Miami Dolphins fans about how hard it is to be a quarterback. And head coach Mike McDaniel pretty much wrote off his team into darkness. So the Dolphins are reeling and won’t make the playoffs after the loss to the Cardinals despite Tagovailoa’s injury return.
The Dolphins lost a tough one, a 28-27 decision that pushed their season record to 2-5. Tagovailoa hit on 28 of 38 passes for 234 yards with a touchdown, but it wasn’t enough.
Miami hasn’t gotten much done on offense this season. The Dolphins rank No. 22 in total offense, and dead last with 13.9 points per game. They’ve been hit hard by injuries, but they’ve still underperformed.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa needs to hit high gear quickly
Tua said good things happened for the offense against the Cardinals despite the final outcome, according to miamidolphins.com.
“I think we can continue to build on the possessions that we had,” Tua said. “What we could've done to stay on the field to give us chances to score points or put points on the board. Whether that's a field goal or getting into the end zone. I think that's something we can build off of.”
This is a true statement. The Dolphins can build on things, but the problem is getting wins while in the building process. Week 9 isn’t the place to start a building project. It’s midseason. And the Dolphins may need to go 8-2 the rest of the way to reach the playoffs.
Standing in the way are road games against Buffalo, Green Bay, and Houston. Also, a home challenges awaits with the 49ers. And the Dolphins may not be able to sweep the Jets, who have improved their roster even though they stand at 2-6. In all honesty, the Dolphins could four of those games. That leaves them at 8-9 and that’s not a playoff record.
The Dolphins are in a deep hole, and it doesn’t seem like Tua is going to get this offense up to 30 points per game out of nowhere.
Tua Tagovailoa said Dolphins players can't try to do too much
“Sometimes that's just the cards that you're dealt with as a team,” Tua said. “It's not an issue for me, it's an issue for us as a team. That how we win games. I can't go play defense. Jalen Ramsey can't come play offense. That's just how it works. This is the cards that we're dealt with. We’ve got to stick together as a team. We've got to just continue to grow stronger, stay in the film room, (and) communicate with our guys.”
One thing the Dolphins could point to is the 8-1 run the team made in 2021. They can truly say it has been done in recent history. Tua said the team simply focused on each person doing his job.
“I know that sounds cliché, but that's exactly what we did,” Tua said. “It's like all right, I'm so worried about the defense giving up touchdowns, the defense saying to the offense, ‘We're tired of you guys not putting enough touchdowns on the board,' and things like that. Well, if we just focus on what we have to do and worry about ourselves, worry about our jobs and what we've got to do. So that's all we've got to do and just go out there and play, trust the guy that you're playing with. And if the ball falls into our hands and that's how the game is going to go, that's how the game goes.”
Another issue for Tagovailoa is injury concern. There seems to be an increased likelihood he gets another concussion before the season is over, no matter how much the Dolphins seem to want to deny it. And now they get a Buffalo team that has been involved with previous injuries for Tua. But he said he doesn’t think about things like that.
“No, I'm a football player,” Tua said. “If you have any of those thoughts, I think that's when it's time to call it, man. So go out there, just enjoy it. Enjoy being out there, enjoy that opportunity. I love it.”
The Dolphins have little margin for error
The NFL is a place where mistakes happen. It’s a fast-paced game. It’s physical. Week to week, games can slip away. And this is especially true for a team already on shaky ground. McDaniel said his team can’t look too far ahead, according to miamidolphins.com.
“So many things can happen,” McDaniel said. “And the point is that you fully tool yourself to try go and be the best team that Sunday in that stadium. Because anything beyond that is an opportunity cost that you leave yourself less and less room for error. So I don't do much forecasting in that way. Just because I've been on an Atlanta team that was 5-2 that ended up 8-8. I've been on a 3-6 team in Washington in 2012 that won the division. I've been on a 3-5 team in 2021 that went to the NFC Championship game.
“So it's about how do you handle the noise. And there's always noise and it's either positive or negative. You're either really good or you suck, and I think that is something that you don't run from because it's never void of your experience in the National Football League. It's a billion-dollar industry that a lot of people care about that there's careers that are directly in it and there's careers covering it. So what do you expect? Bottom line is you have to do your job and continue to find ways to do it better, and the teams that figure out how to collectively get better in the noise, every single year, it's the same pattern. They're the teams that win at the end of the season.”
