Tagovailoa already has achieved some historic feats in five starts
Tua Tagovailoa not only has guided the Dolphins to a 4-1 record — with a big assist to Miami’s defense and special teams — but he also has achieved several notable feats. Among them:
Tagovailoa and Dolphins legend Dan Marino
have two things in common after their first five NFL starts: a 4-1 record and much higher-thanaverage NFL passer ratings.
Marino, in his first five starts as a Dolphins rookie in 1983, had a 105.6 passer rating. Tagovailoa is at 99.4 after five starts.
Marino had 12 touchdown passes and three interceptions in those first five starts. Tagovailoa has seven touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Those two Dolphins quarterbacks threw for a nearly identical number of completions — but Marino threw for more yards — in their first five starts. Marino was 87 for 144 for 1,177 yards. Tagovailoa is 86 for 136 for 898.
The 4-1 record puts them in rare company.
Per The Phinsider’s
Matt Infante, Tagovailoa, Marino, Ben Roethlisberger and Dak Prescott
are the only rookies to go 4-1 with a quarterback rating of 95.0 or better in their first five starts.
Per Elias, Tagovailoa is just the fourth NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl era to not throw an interception in his first five career starts (minimum 100 pass attempts), joining
Jeff Kemp (1984, in his third year), Presscott (2016) and Kyle Allen (2018-19).
Allen began his career with nine touchdowns and no interceptions; Tagovailoa had the next most impressive start among those four with touchdown passes factored in.
Nobody in Super Bowl era has gone without an interception in their first six career starts.
Tagovailoa’s five-game streak without an interception is tied with Jay Fielder (2000) as the longest in Dolphins history, regardless of experience.
Incidentally, Tagovailoa ranks 11th in the NFL passer ratings at 99.4. Among other rookies who have played a lot, the Chargers’
Justin Herbert is at 94.2 and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow was at 89.8 before his season-ending knee injury.
NOTES AT OTHER POSITIONS
Offensive line: Guard ●
Ereck Flowers left after 14 plays with a sprained left ankle but is expected to return at some point in December. Agent Drew Rosenhaus said on his WSVN-Fox segment that Flowers avoided a serious injury and that “Ereck told me he’s hopeful he can play next week.”
In his absence, Jesse Davis played off the bench for the first time this season and logged 56 snaps at right guard, with Solomon Kindley shifting from right guard to left guard after Flowers departed.
This was the first time in team history that Miami started three rookie offensive linemen in the same game: left tackle Austin Jackson, right tackle Robert Hunt and Kindley, and the offensive line didn’t give up a sack.
Among 21 players who logged offensive snaps for Miami, Pro Football Focus rated Hunt sixth, Jackson 10th and Kindley 11th.
Running back: With
De’Andre Washington (hamstring) and Salvon Ahmed (shoulder) out with injuries and Matt Breida on the COVID-19 list, Myles Gaskin returned after missing four games with a sprained MCL and played 50 snaps, with Patrick Laird logging 19. Lynn Bowden Jr. played a career-high 31 snaps — a few at running back and most at receiver.
PFF said Bowden was Miami’s second-best player on offense on Sunday, behind tight end Mike Gesicki, who had a careerhigh nine receptions.
Fullback Chandler Cox played 12 snaps and PFF rated him Miami’s worst player on offense.
Receivers/tight ends: DeVante Parker played 55 of Miami’s 70 offensive snaps before his late ejection. Jakeem Grant played 39 and Mack Hollins (who was also ejected) and Antonio Callaway 13 apiece.
Even with Malcolm Perry and Preston Williams out, Callaway seemingly has climbed no higher than fifth on the pecking order at receiver.
As for tight ends, Gesicki played the most for a third game in a row — 49 to
Durham Smythe’s 41 and
Adam Shaheen’s 26. Gesicki and Randy McMichael (in 2004) are the only tight ends in Dolphins history to catch as many as nine passes in a game.
Defensive line: Christian Wilkins played 44 of Miami’s 52 snaps on defense, and Shaq Lawson credited his energy with making a tangible difference on this defense.
Emmanuel Ogbah played 42, Raekwon Davis 28, Zach Sieler 26 and
Jason Strowbridge 2. PFF rated Ogbah third, Wilkins eighth and Davis 16th among 19 players on defense.
Linebacker: Kyle Van Noy had three sacks (the most by a Dolphin in a game since Cameron Wake in 2015), became the first Dolphin with at least five tackles for loss in a game since at least 2008 and played 47 of Miami’s 52 defensive snaps. PFF rated him Miami’s best defender on Sunday, just ahead of Andrew Van Ginkel, who played 22 snaps.
Jerome Baker played 43 snaps, Lawson 33 and
Calvin Munson played more than usual (nine snaps) because Elandon Roberts was limited to eight snaps because of a chest injury.
Defensive backs: Cornerback Byron Jones and safety Bobby McCain each played all 52 snaps. At safety, Eric Rowe returned to the game after being evaluated for a concussion and played 41, with rookie Brandon Jones logging 28.
With Xavien Howard ejected late in the first half after logging 30 snaps,
Noah Igbinoghene played 22 at boundary cornerback opposite Jones in the second half.
Igbinoghene had one pass thrown against him (against All-Pro receiver
A.J. Green), and that pass went incomplete.
Nik Needham played 41 defensive snaps and had an interception for a second game in a row and allowed only one of two passes against him to be caught, for 8 yards.
THIS AND THAT
The Dolphins have
● allowed 10 points or less in consecutive games for the first time since 2002.
Miami relinquished just 25 yards in the second half — the first time the Dolphins have permitted that few yards in a second half since at least 2000.