QB Review: Tua Tagovailoa keeps the hot streak alive with good performance

The Miami Dolphins improved to 6-7 and kept their 5 game winning streak alive with a 20-9 win against the New York Giants. The Dolphins’ season script has been completely flipped these last few weeks and a lot of that is due in part to the growth of Tua Tagovailoa, who put in another great performance this week.

Tua finished the day going 30 for 41 for 244 yards and 2 touchdowns (stats courtesy of ESPN.com). His stat line would have been much better on the day if Miami’s receivers didn’t drop the ball like they did. Regardless of those mistakes, Tagovailoa put in another great performance and did a good job keeping the offense going.

Of course, the offense wasn’t at it’s best in this game. Miami’s offensive line looked a bit worse than in the last few weeks and, as mentioned previously, Miami’s receiving corp seemed a bit off in this one with a number of drops that stalled drives. Even with those hiccups, the offense was able to put up 20 points on the day and Tua looked like he took another step in his development.

Of all the growth that we have seen over the last few weeks in Tua’s game, the most impressive for me is his feel in the pocket. Numerous times in this game and in the last few weeks, Tua has been able to feel the pressure around him and step up into the pocket to keep the play alive. As a young quarterback, you would expect Tua to have a poor feel for the pressure around him, especially when you throw in how bad this line has been. Yet, Tua has excelled at keeping plays alive which is a noticeable change from quarterbacks in Miami’s immediate past.

His accuracy was also on display in this one, putting the ball in positions where only his receivers can make plays. There were a few throws that seemed as though they were poor but ended up being perfectly placed. He threw his receivers open a few times as well, which is a necessary skill to be a top level quarterback in the league.

Overall, Tua has proved these past few weeks that he is more than capable of leading this offense to great things. There shouldn’t be much doubt left about his ability moving forward and whether or not he can be the answer as the franchise guy. At this point, he most certainly is.

QB Grade: A