Tua Tagovailoa Needs To Step Up Or The Miami Dolphins Might Just Seek Another QB
Tua Tagovailoa is likely playing for his long-term future as the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback during … [+]
The Miami Dolphins had control of their game versus the Green Bay Packers. And then Tua Tagovailoa threw it away.
The Dolphins held a 20-10 lead before imploding and allowing the Packers to score 16 unanswered points on the way to a 26-20 victory for Green Bay.
With an opportunity to put away the game and essentially seal the Dolphins’ first playoff appearance since 2016, the third-year quarterback threw three interceptions on three consecutive drives in the fourth quarter.
“It was terrible how everything ended,” Tagovailoa said after the game. “Like I told the guys, that’s on me.”
One was a bad overthrow on a pass to Tyreek Hill that led to a direct field goal and lead for the Packers at 23-20 early in the fourth quarter. The next one saw Tagovailoa lead the Dolphins into Packers territory — only for him to throw an interception to Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.
And the final one — in which he had an opportunity to lead a game-winning drive — saw him quickly squander it away with an interception to cornerback Rasul Douglas with an under-thrown ball.
Tagovailoa tried to explain how he managed to throw three consecutive interceptions with an opportunity to win the game on each of them.
“On the first one, I tried to throw it over a defender and ended up throwing over the defender and (wide receiver) Tyreek (Hill), so that one got away,” Tagovailoa said. “The second one, I might have said the wrong play. I’m not too sure. But there were just some communication issues on that. And then the third one was just not a good ball for my receiver to have been able to make a play on that.
The young quarterback had been sensational this season up until the last four weeks. Tagovailoa started out the season with an 8-1 record. However, over the past four weeks — all losses versus teams with winning records — he’s been outplayed by simply better quarterbacks.
During the Dolphins’ four-game losing streak, Tagovailoa has completed just 52.6% of his passes with six touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 80.5.
That’s not franchise quarterback numbers in the month of December.
It’s one thing to post superb numbers against inferior teams — just two of the Dolphins’ eight wins have been against teams with winning records — it’s a whole another deal to consistently lose against competition you’d be facing in the playoffs.
The bottom line is this — it’s either playoffs or bust for Tua.
As productive of a season as Tagovailoa has had this season — he threw just five interceptions entering Week 16 — it’s all for naught if the Dolphins can’t clinch their first playoff appearance in the Tua era.
After coming close to playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons, it’s an absolute necessity for the Dolphins to clinch one this season — especially considering they began the season with an 8-3 record, leading the AFC after Week 12.
Consecutive weeks of being outplayed by Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen and Brock Purdy — with a playoff spot on the line — doesn’t exactly look good on Tagovailoa’s resume.
There’s little doubt that Tagovailoa has grown monumentally as a quarterback with Hill as his main target and an offensive genius in Mike McDaniel as a head coach. However, his inability to step up and win against the top quarterbacks in the game makes many question whether or not he’s a true franchise quarterback.
Following this season, Tagovailoa has one year left on his rookie contract. The Dolphins will have to decide this upcoming offseason whether or not they want to pick up his fifth-year option for 2024, which OverTheCap estimates to be a little over $22.6 million.
Despite their four-game losing streak, the Dolphins still control their playoff destiny. It’s simple — if they beat the New England Patriots and the New York Jets in the final two weeks of the season, they go to the playoffs.
However, if they can’t finish the job and beat two faltering teams with stagnant offensive attacks, there’s little reason for Miami to commit to Tagovailoa.
It’s hard to envision the Dolphins moving Tagovailoa this offseason, but anything is on the table if Miami completes their free fall during the final month of the season to fall out of the postseason bracket.
At the very least, the Dolphins would likely pursue a possible veteran franchise quarterback — think Jimmy Garoppolo, who they previously pursued — or a rookie in a quarterback-heavy draft class as possible replacements for Tagovailoa. However, it’s worth noting the Dolphins don’t have a first-round draft pick in 2023.
The last two weeks will likely dictate Tagovailoa’s long-term future with the franchise.
If the Dolphins sneak in, Tagovailoa is likely looking at a contract extension to become the latest $40 million-plus a year quarterback.
If Miami misses out narrowly on a postseason berth for the third consecutive season, the Dolphins will be assessing their quarterback options.
The ball is in your court, Tua.
