How a loss saved Tua Tagovailoa’s career with the Miami Dolphins

How a loss saved Tua Tagovailoa’s career with the Miami Dolphins

So what happens if the fortunes are somehow reversed, and the Dolphins end up winning that all-important game against the Titans in Week 17 of the 2021 season?

For starters, and by far most importantly, Brian Flores would have kept his job as head coach. He would have been the “leader” of the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history if Miami won its final nine games and qualified for the playoffs. He would be praised for his leadership, and the issues that he had with his players and coaching staff would be swept under the rug, for at least another season, in a league where winning cures all.

But Tua wouldn’t have been safe. It is no secret that there was a noticeable rift between him and Flores for the entirety of their relationship, and the coach did very little to lift and enable his young signal caller. In fact, he did quite the opposite. “Tua is our quarterback” was the most praise that he was ever able to give Tagovailoa in public, and even that seemed like a lie.

When Flores was in charge, Tua’s role as the starter seemed to vary on a week-to-week basis. There were the benchings as a rookie when Ryan Fitzpatrick came in to finish games, and the ridiculous onslaught of Deshaun Watson rumors that dominated the headlines for weeks, both before and after the trade deadline.