Tua Tagovailoa took the blame for mistakes on the final two offensive plays that snuffed out the Miami Dolphins‘ last chance to beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Was he right?
Perhaps a little.
The botched snap on Miami’s final offensive play was a joint failure. Center Connor Williams sent the ball wide to Tagovailoa’s right, but Tua absolutely could have caught it.
But the truth is, they lost the game on the play before, when Cedrick Wilson Jr. went one way, and Tagovailoa threw another.
Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McDaniel on Miami Dolphins’ Late Failures
The Dolphins faced 3rd-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 31 inside the two-minute warning. Wilson was split out wide and drew single coverage from Jaylen Watson.
Wilson ran a go route — and got behind Watson for what would have been an easy touchdown.
Tua threw the ball to the sideline short, expecting his receiver to break off his route.
Tua had Cedrick Wilson Jr. wide open for the game-tying score here but severely underthrew him pic.twitter.com/2xZxcs4JBF
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) November 5, 2023
“It was my fault, it was my fault,” Tagovailoa said postgame. “It was my fault, miscommunication.”
That’s the right thing for any quarterback to say. But it doesn’t mean it’s what actually happened.
Here was Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s take 20 or so minutes later:
“If I know my personnel well, Tua was probably standing up here, since he gets to talk before me, and saying this, that, and the other about it’s on him. It wasn’t.
“There’s a lot that falls squarely on my shoulders. [The Chiefs] were doing something that we talked about. And the miscommunication is something that doesn’t happen if, you know, I put them in the appropriate situation during the week.
“Tua didn’t have time to observe. He signaled kind of one route that has a conversion. Cedrick interpreted it as another thing. … It’s 100% something that I can control, personally.”
What he’s been unable to fully control? The all-too-frequent poor snap from Williams. It was a problem in training camp. It was a problem again Sunday on the Dolphins’ final offensive play.
Pressure
Wayward Snap
And the Chiefs win❕ pic.twitter.com/tQ4WA38uLq— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 5, 2023
Tagovailoa let the ball get past him, and the Dolphins’ last-gasp play was dead before it even had a chance.
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“Man, tough, tough,” Tagovailoa said. “You never want to end the game like that, how that happened. But, you know, I think any competitor in our field that would be in my position, you know, would wish they had that play back; at least they’d give the team an opportunity. And I wasn’t able to do that.”
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