Does Tua Tagovailoa get credit for leading Miami Dolphins to playoffs?
By Brian Miller
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa had a very good season in 2022 when he was healthy but Skylar Thompson led the team down the stretch. Who gets credit for the playoffs?
On Twitter, one fan wants to know who gets the credit, Thompson or Tua? You can vote on his poll by going here.
It is an interesting question if you look at it objectively.
Tua played lights out early in the season and even after he came back from his first concussion, the Dolphins starting quarterback led the league in several statistical categories.
Miami won their first three games with Tua at quarterback, then they lost the next three with Tua missing half of the Bengals game, the Jets game, and the Vikings game while he dealt with concussion protocols.
When he returned against the Steelers, he struggled, naturally, but still won. He would win his next five games before losing the following four. He suffered a concussion against the Packers but finished the game.
The Dolphins would enter 17 without Tua and without Teddy Bridgewater starting leaving Skylar Thompson to lead the team. Miami would lose to the Patriots but beat the Jets the following weekend to clinch the playoffs.
In that season finale, Thompson would start but Miami’s offense generated only 9 points total with the defense adding an end-of-game safety.
So who should get credit?
If we are being 100% literal, the Dolphins don’t make the playoffs without Thompson winning the final game of the season but if we are also being realistic, the Dolphins’ defense manhandled the Jets in that game and Thompson did enough to win and not lose.
dark. Next. Mariota should be backup option
On the other hand, Tua was the only other quarterback to win a game for the Dolphins last year and without those wins, Miami comes nowhere near the postseason.
So Tua for getting the team in position to need one win or Thompson for getting the final win to get the team into the playoffs?
This shouldn’t really be a debate but apparently, it is. For what it is worth, at the time of this writing the poll has Tua leading with 81.5% but not everyone likes Tua these days…at least the other 18%. If we are really going to go with a reality check, however, the question that should have been asked in this poll is “Who cares?”