It’s a good week for Miami dolphins, but for Tua Tagovailoa it’s never a holiday week. And for some reason 24-7 talk show. NBC correspondent Chris Simms felt the need to call in “idiots” who thought the Dolphins defender was better than Tysom Hill in New Orleans.
Who discusses such things?
New York Giants defender Logan Ryan has apologized for saying “very similar to Tuaga” as a midfielder in high school. I was a left winger and I could throw two meters. This is after Tua defeated his team.
If Tua is the subject of Quiet Dolphins on Sunday, here’s A Topic: When his case was on the line, when CEO Chris Grier and coach Brian Flores tried to replace him with Deshaun Watson, Tagovailoa went out and saved everyone’s work.
That’s it. This is now the story line of the season.
At 1-7, this Tua and the new defense revived the season, removing heat from Grier and Flores. That doesn’t mean the season everyone wants. That doesn’t mean he won’t even try to replace Tuani at the end of the year – but that’s on trend, right?
It’s hard to imagine Tagovailoa or anyone else doing much better in this Dolphin offense because what was given to her – and what was not given to her. Bad offensive line. Receiving body built with wounded parts. A running position that is tested weekly.
It’s such a misinterpretation around him – given everything Tua has – that’s the only right conclusion that can be successful this season.
Fast shooting? Short shot? Of course, the giants Ryan were right on that score. It’s like a high school crime. But is this really Tua’s fault or design? And why didn’t Ryan stop him? How did Tua complete 30 of 41 passes and two touches in 244 yards as the Dolphins won their fifth win in a row?
To protect or condemn Tua, you can bury your nose in the analysis. He ranks seventh in ESPN’s quarterback defense rankings. He averages 20th on each attempt. He ranks high in every fourth quarter, indicating that he is closer. But the dolphins never fell behind in the fourth quarter of this winning streak, so no hard questions arose.
Dolphin coaches have developed a general formula for this limited offense: high temp if the game is close or half early; and the rest of the hour-milking conservatives rode the defense. Which one most often.
Tua’s role is as a smart basketball keeper. Here’s a good jump pass. There is a timely lobby. It’s not that he’s throwing Tom Brady deep, it’s that Chris Paul, who played tik-tak-toe on the field. Is that so? Or does the season demand it?
Simms is right, “you don’t have to train a No. 5 defender to throw the ball 5 or 6 yards from the middle.” Gus Frerotte did just that, winning six games to end the 2005 Dolphins season.
But as Simms said, it would be foolish to compare him to throwing the ball 30-50 yards off the field at New Orleans Hill, something Tua wouldn’t even ask for.
Hill threw 41 times, just like Tua, last week. Hill also threw Tua four balls to zero. Perhaps a better argument is that a smart coach like Sean Payton has a limited field of defense that can lead to four hurdles.
According to Hill, the Tua season is playing like a short-lived Mac Jones in New England. However, Jones is well-organized, supports the game better, is structured with loud national applause, and has no endurance issues. This is an eternal concern with Tua.
Corollary: No one gets the answer they need about Tua this season. That doesn’t stop everyone from seeing the answer. He is the current generation Tim Tebou in this regard. Tua-kholics see him as a star. Tua’s suspicions see him as limited and fragile.
There is an eight-game winning streak this Dolphins season, and then the playoffs are almost missed. Then people greet them and Dolphin fans say that next year is this year, as it has been for almost twenty years. Carrots are at hand forever.
Maybe Dolphins will speed it up by trading Watson? Talking to Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers?
This is tomorrow. For now, the most important thing in Miami’s farewell week is that Tua is playing well enough to save jobs. CEO. Coach. Maybe he’ll keep his job, too.
