Tua Tagovailoa faces his toughest challenge of 2022, the Bills
By Brian Miller
In this young season, the Miami Dolphins, more importantly, Tua Tagovailoa will face perhaps their biggest challenge of the 2022 season. The Buffalo Bills.
If there is one thing we are learning about the narrative on Tua Tagovailoa it is a simple fact that those that hate him will continue to do so no matter what he does. That was the case on Sunday against the Ravens. Six touchdown passes, a 4th quarter comeback and some in the media weren’t all that impressed. As we talked about on Monday, there were those that said it was the Ravens’ defense, not the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins.
This is Bills week and Tua will face a daunting task to keep his offense pacing with the Bills’ offense, one of the absolute best in the NFL. To beat the Bills, Tua will have to beat the best defense in the league as well.
It’s a tall task. Tua may be perfect against the New England Patriots but he is also perfectly winless against the Bills. In fact, it’s not just Tua, the Dolphins haven’t beaten the Bills in seven straight games.
What’s worse about this current streak? Miami hasn’t really come all that close to beating them either. Miami has scored 123 points in the last 7 games. The Bills have scored 255.
Needless to say, Tua needs to be perfect or close to it and he needs to take advantage of any help the Dolphins’ defense gives him. This is a game Miami can’t trade field goals for touchdowns in.
There is a path to victory but it will come to fruition if both sides of the ball play to their potential. Miami needs to do what few teams have done this year, putting pressure on Josh Allen. Then they need to contain Josh Allen, and then Tua needs to make the Bills pay for it.
Miami’s quarterback needs to play smart football but he also needs to play loose like he did in the fourth quarter of the Ravens’ game. He needs to play the entire Bills game with his foot on the throttle as if every possession was the final drive for a victory because it could be the difference in the end.
The Bills look like a team that could run the table to perfection, they are that good but this week, the Dolphins need to prepare for that level of play and match it. It starts with Tua. Avoiding the mistakes and the sacks will be imperative to the offensive success next Sunday.
Tua has it in him, he knows the importance of this game. Will a victory silence his doubters? Probably not but win or lose, Tua needs to play well. This is the game he can take a big leap forward and prove to the naysayers that last week wasn’t a fluke.
This week isn’t about Tua vs. Josh Allen. It’s not about the Dolphins’ defense vs. Josh Allen. It’s about Tua leading his offense against the Bills’ defense. That’s the battle he controls.