Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa has a lot to prove on Sunday

The Miami Dolphins will have Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday but won’t have Ryan Fitzpatrick.

This weekend’s must-win Miami Dolphins game will be the biggest of Tua Tagovailoa and his young NFL career. He has a lot to prove.

There are Miami Dolphins fans who have been waiting for this day. Tagovailoa will not have his mentor, Ryan Fitzpatrick on the sidelines to talk about each play or point out what he may have done wrong or what he could have done better. This is his game and he needs to prove he can handle the pressure of the NFL.

Tomorrow is basically a playoff game. A loss can still get the Dolphins into the post-season but it requires some help. Tua has been up and down all season. He had a great game against the Cardinals but was yanked in two other games against the Broncos and the Raiders. That isn’t really an option this week.

Tagovailoa needs to silent some of his detractors but that doesn’t mean he needs to win, he needs to play well enough to win. If the Dolphins season ends tomorrow, the long off-season will begin with questions about whether Tua is the right QB to lead the Dolphins.

As someone who wasn’t a fan of Tua being drafted or a fan of his at Alabama, I can say that those thoughts are junk. Tua needs to show more but he has a lot of talent and with better support around him we will know in a year or two if he is the right guy.

Sunday, it’s pressure. The team needs him to be the leader and they need him to lead them down the field. Chan Gailey has to do a better job of calling plays that will work for Tua and the offense. Fans are concerned because while Gailey has said that he calls the same type of game for both QBs there is a marked difference in the plays called when Fitzpatrick is on the field. More aggressive if you will. Tomorrow, the Dolphins and Tua need to be aggressive from the start and not let up. Honestly, I think Tua is going to be impressive in his first game against the Bills.