MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sure had a solid game for a guy that half the NFL commentariat thinks can barely tie his shoes without Tyreek Hill handling doing the loop and swoop.
Hill (ankle) was in street clothes in Sunday’s 30-0 win over the Jets, but Tagovailoa still posted the second-highest completion percentage of his career (87.5%).
Proud of this team
— Ty Hill (@cheetah) December 17, 2023
Tua had just three incompletions on 24 pass attempts, averaged 9.3 yards per attempt, and produced a passer rating of 119.4. He connected with Jaylen Waddle eight times for 142 yards, much of which came on a 60-yard touchdown strike.
And he did all of that against the league’s second-ranked pass defense that entered the game allowing just 5.4 yards per attempt and 167.2 yards per game through the air.
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa Shows Up
That production was only unexpected if you fell for the lie that the Dolphins’ offense cannot function without Hill.
“I mean, that’s what everyone is going to say,” Tagovailoa said postgame. “Everyone is going to have their own deal with how they feel. In my personal opinion, give Tyreek the MVP, or give Jaylen Waddle the MVP, or give Raheem Mostert the MVP. Give all those guys the MVP.”
“I could care less personally,” Tua continued. “I feel like everything is made about me, which makes me feel very uncomfortable and makes me feel a little weird about that. It’s a team sport. … With not having him and to be able to put [up] 30 points and have a shutout by our defense should tell you a lot about the team, really, the guys on all three aspects and three phases of the game.”
It should tell you a lot about Tagovailoa, too, who is having a career season in Year 4.
Tua is on pace to set career highs in:
- Completion percentage (he’s currently at 71%)
- Touchdown passes (he has 25, which is tied for his career high)
- Passer rating (106)
- Yard per game (280.1)
Certainly, Hill — who was “pretty close” to playing Sunday, per Mike McDaniel — has been a major reason why Tua has played so well.
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But it was lazy analysis to say he can’t do it without Cheetah before Sunday and downright foolish afterward.
“It’s not like we talk about that, but noise is loud,” McDaniel said. “You embrace adversity for the opportunity that it is. But far from surprised me. I could tell all week there were certain things that him — in particular — him and Jaylen Waddle were doing together that I knew they were going to be able to do some explosive stuff, and he really did a great job playing within the play.”
McDaniel added, “I think what we’re watching as a team is a bunch of young players really coming into their own, and he’s one of the primary ones, Tua is, because he’s learning from everything.
“That doesn’t mean everything goes well. Again, I think that’s fake. That would make me nervous if, at this point in the season, we hadn’t gone through adversity, just because I know what is coming.
“I think that it was a great example of him worrying about the right stuff, which is his responsibility each and every play, and he definitely commanded the game entirely.”
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