QB makes big win biggest in years
That’swhatyouwanted to see. That arm. Thataccuracy. Thatmobility. Thatfull arsenal of Tua Tagovailoa on Sundaywas what theMiamiDolphinshave spenttwodecades ofwandering throughthe wilderness, turningover loose stonesandTyler Thigpens, in hopes of seeing.
No, Sundaywasn’t a finished or perfectly polished product. It just gave substance
to the hope and support to the possibility that Tua could verywell be that guy — that the long Dolphins nightmare just might be over.
The Dolphins beat Arizona for a fourth straight win, 34-31, thanks in part to some non-Tua factors. The defense, namely tackle Zach Sieler and linebacker Eland on Roberts, madea fourthand-1 stop to set up the win.
Kicker Jason Sanders made a 50-yard field goal, his team-record 20th straight, for the winning points.
There’s also the specter of the pandemic running around inside this team. Assistant coaches missed the game to go with players. More testing coming up could yield more positives and change the whole season.
But what happened Sunday when a good, new-fashioned NFL shootout broke out in Arizona. Andthe Dolphins didn’t get shot down for the first time in years in this kind of game.
They had the kid quarterback on their side, for once, to match what Arizona’ s dynamic Kyler Murray was doing on the other side.
Murray completed 21-of26 passes for 28 yards, three touch downs and ran for 106more yards. Tagovailoa completed 20-of-28 passes for 248 yards, two touchdowns and ran for 35 more yards.
Look at those numbers. Therewere 13 incomplete passes between them. Thirteen! Itwas like theywere playing a highlevel game of H-O-R-S-E between their running and passing feats.
“Thatwas awesome,” Tagovailoa said of going against Murray. “I think it was fun for the fans aswell, not just us competing. You knowwhat you’re going to get with Kyler.
“You’re going to get big plays on his side of the ball. I think he might be the fastest player in the NFL right now.”
Faster than you? “Ohmy gosh, he’s faster than me, no doubt,” he said.
Well, it’s true. He’s not a flash like Murray. But you saw Tua run the ball on Sunday, too. Thatwas a question considering the training-wheels of his first start lastweek against the Los Angeles Rams and his injury history.
The question was if the Dolphins were going to open the valve on his game or, whenthey did, whether itwould be a continued cry of patience after his 93 yards passing in his opening start.
Therewas nowaiting Sunday. He pulled off a designed run on the first series. He started winging the ball around, too. And while therewere good plays throughout, the ones at the end, the ones you needed to win, showed just what they might have.
Third-and-4 in the fourth quarter? He eluded a blitzing linebacker, then made the NFL’s defensive player of October, safety Budda Baker, whiff as he got the first down.
Next play: He escaped a sure sack and ran 17 yards to the Arizona 11.
Next play: A pin-point-perfect pass to Mack Hollins, who caught his first NFL touch down.
That tied it, 31-31. That’s the kind of poise under pressure you saw. That’s how he went froma blackand-white game in his first start to full technicolor in his second start.
“There wasn’t much change throughout practice, throughout theweek,” he said. “I’d say coming into the game we were able to get in a rhythm in the passing game and use that our advantage. If we wanted to get in the running game, we could do it, andwe could throwin dropbacks aswell.”
To add to the star quality the Dolphins might be unwrapping: Tua had a commercial in Sunday’s game. Hewas shaving. His dad said, “Tua, every day the gazelle must run faster than the lion or he’ll become lunch. Whenwe wake up, we all have to be ready to run ... Son, are you ready?”
Just another example if Tua’s game is there, the Dolphins have a national star. (If not, he’s just another over-marketed quarterback like Baker Mayfield?)
The call after his first start was to seemore. You saw more Sunday. It’s too soon to anoint him. But it’s not too soon to realize what you saw. You’ve seen enough quarterback slop over the past two decades to recognize the shine of quality.
The Dolphins moved to 5-3. Thatwas good news. The better news is Sunday provided the first glimpse of a quarter back who could keep them winning for years.