Miami Dolphins: 3 major takeaways from Week 7 vs. Falcons

1. The Miami Dolphins have a hard decision to make about Tua Tagovailoa

Before the season started, I felt that starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa could be a top 10 quarterback in the NFL if he stayed healthy. A Week 2 injury, which cemented injury prone concerns, forced Tagovailoa to miss the rest of Week 2 and three more games following that.

Tagovailoa has been back the last two weeks, ready to show that he can be a top guy in the NFL, and well, he has not shown that. And if we are being honest, he has not shown it much at all.

I have been labeled a Tua Hater, and even though that is just because I critique him objectively, I am not going to stop doing it. If you have an elite quarterback, you do not lose back-to-back games to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons. It just does not happen. Yes, quarterback wins is a stupid stat; Tagovailoa used to be praised for his 6-3 rookie record, which has quickly become 7-6 in his second season. I am not even focusing on the win-loss stat, but just how Miami has lost these games.

If you read the stat sheet, it looks like Tagovailoa has played solid. He completed a high percentage of his passes, and he had four touchdowns this week. However, stop watching the game for stats, and start watching it deeper. Miami’s offense is so bad, and Tagovailoa is part of that. Tagovailoa consistently throws the ball behind the line of scrimmage, and a big pass is usually 10 yards down the field.

Tagovailoa does not threaten defenses throwing the ball deep, and completing a four yards pass on 3rd and 5 is horrible, but on the stat sheet, it is 1 for 1, 100%. Fans need to look further than the stat sheet and want more from Tagovailoa.

His two interceptions were terrible, and he can blame whoever he wants, but they were bad. They led to the Falcons scoring 10 points and led to Miami not getting any on either drive. He had a nice drive to take the lead at the end of the game, but it should never come to that, but it did because of his two boneheaded interceptions.

November 2nd is coming, and it will be interesting to see what Miami does.