Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill is the most unstoppable player in football right now, but even the best receivers need a quarterback to get them the ball. Tua Tagovailoa is doing that and more in 2023.
Hill and Tua — arguably the best QB/WR duo in football — connected on two more deep touchdowns in the Dolphins’ 45-15 beatdown of the Washington Commanders.
After the game, Hill — who went for 157 yards on five catches to extend his NFL lead in receiving yards — took to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter to let the world know what he thinks about his QB.
Tua is the best in the weld 🥹
— Ty Hill (@cheetah) December 3, 2023
“Tua is the best in the weld 🥹,” Hill wrote.
There’s certainly a case to be made that he’s right.
Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill Lifts Miami Dolphins
Tagovailoa completed 75% of his passing attempts for 280 yards and those two touchdowns Sunday to put him back in the conversation for MVP.
And he did all that despite throwing just nine passes in the second half.
His chemistry with Hill is off the charts, and that’s a big reason why Tua is one yard shy of his career-high in passing yards (he’s currently at 3,547) with five games to play. He’s also on pace to set career-highs in completion percentage (he’s currently at 70.1%), touchdowns (24), and passer rating (106).
Tagovailoa has been transformed as a quarterback since Hill and Mike McDaniel both arrived in 2022, and, most importantly, he’s stayed healthy this year for the first time in his career.
MORE: Miami Dolphins Depth Chart
His two touchdown passes to Hill in the first half Sunday went for 78 and 60 yards — which made Tyreek the first NFL player to have multiple catches of 60 or more yards in a game twice in a year. Hill also became the first Dolphins player to have 150 or more receiving yards in the first half of a game since 1991.
On the first TD, Hill ran past man-press coverage — a strategic decision that backfired epically.
“At some point, it’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know, man,'” Hill said postgame. “‘I just appreciate it, you know, thanks for, you know, not respecting me.'”
The second one had a far higher degree of difficulty, with Hill having to track the ball over his shoulder because the quarterback and receiver were not totally on the same page.
Tyreek Hill with the adjustment over the opposite shoulder for 60-yard touchdown from Tua. pic.twitter.com/OImhOkQGsW
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) December 3, 2023
“I thought I ran a perfect route,” Hill said after the game. “I was looking this way, and I had to adjust back this way. … Tua, he does a great job of throwing the ball exactly where it needs to be. And I thought he was wrong, but we went back and watched the film.
“… He was like, ‘Bro, I threw it exactly where like we teach it.’ I was like, ‘No way.’ He pointed out on film. I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right, my bad.'”
Added Tagovailoa: “Phenomenal, phenomenal job by what Tyreek did. I mean, that’s tough to do, especially going as fast as he’s going. That is tough. It’s remarkable.”
Hill is now just 519 yards shy of 2,000 with five to go, which means he needs to average 103.8 yards over the season’s last five weeks to reach that unprecedented benchmark. Hours upon hours of unseen work is paying off in a way we have never seen before.
Said Tagovailoa: “Everyone knows that we can do something special this year, and like no one on our team is trying to waste that opportunity.”
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