Miami Dolphins face critical game Sunday night against the Chargers

The Miami Dolphins will face a critical week 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers in primetime and it could have season implications.

Before we go on, no, tonight’s game will not eliminate the Dolphins from the playoffs and it likely won’t move the seed needle from 6 to 7. It won’t eliminate them from a chance at the AFC East division title, and it will not make the Dolphins irrelevant. Tonight’s game though is a critical game for other reasons.

Last week the Dolphins lost the first of three consecutive road games and that wasn’t actually unexpected from a competition standpoint. Winning on the road is not easy, winning on the other side of the country can be harder. Add the fact the 49ers boasted the top defense in the NFL, it was going to be hard.

The Chargers are not the 49ers and they probably are fortunate to have a 6-6 record. They have been decimated by injuries, will be without two of their top guys in the secondary, and have a quarterback who is consistently being hit.

So why is this critical for the Dolphins? Last week we saw a side of the Dolphins we didn’t really like. We say Josh Boyer calls a vanilla game against an inexperienced 3rd string quarterback and gets beat. We saw Tua miss wide-open receivers that would have changed the game’s outcome, to say nothing of his two interceptions. In fact, last week Tua was more consistent being inconsistent than he was making plays and that says something considering he put up 295 yards and two touchdowns.

This week, we need to see Josh Boyer bounce back and set up a game plan that puts pressure on Justin Herbert, which confuses Herbert. A game plan that takes Austin Ekeler out of their offense and shuts down the deep passes to Keenan Allen and Mike Williams…if he plays.

Offensively we need to see Tua bounce back from an off week. This season has gone very well for the young QB but we find out what he is made of mentally when he takes the field tonight in a game that could have playoff implications later this year.

Tua has a huge game coming up next week in Buffalo, and a win tonight will make that game the most important of the season because a win in Buffalo puts the Dolphins in the driver’s seat for the AFC East title.

In college, Tua faced a lot of pressure at Alabama. His icy veins in the 2017 National Championship game was incredible but the onus to win that game wasn’t originally on his shoulders. Tua replaced Jalen Hurts and won the game as a true freshman. A year later, he threw 295 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions against Clemson in the title game. A massive 44-16 loss.

Tua has been questioned from day one. Can he be a leader, he checked off that box this year. Can he throw deep? It’s a question that really shouldn’t have been a question as he threw deep in college but still, he silenced critics this year. Can he win the big games? That we still need to see.

This week, next week, and the three games that wrap up the Dolphins season against the Packers, Patriots, and Jets are not only big games, but huge games. Can he win those games? He needs to if the Dolphins are going to make the postseason.

Up until now, Tua has been playing with house money. They beat teams that most NFL teams should have beaten and last week, they should have beaten the 49ers pretty easily. In fact, if you rewatch the game tape, they had every opportunity. Josh Boyer and Tua Tagovailoa didn’t help.

This week, Miami has to rebound. They have to get in their heads that they can go to the west coast and win. A win tonight isn’t critical for their playoff chances but mentally, it will be a critical victory ahead of the biggest game of their season so far.

Conversely, the Chargers face an even bigger game from their side. A loss will truly hurt their playoff chances.