The Miami Dolphins got some good news this week when Tua Tagovailoa was activated off Injured Reserve. Dolphins fans have been excited about the return and the hopes that come with it. There is a different reality, though, as the Dolphins are not a good football team and there is no guarantee that Tua will change that.
Simply put, the Dolphins are asking a lot of Tua - maybe expectation is a better word. Miami fans and the media discounted the early season struggles as being out of sync because it was the start of the year, but there were problems that were glaring against the Jaguars and the Bills prior to Tua getting hurt.
Now, Tua is rejoining a team that is three games behind the division-leading Bills and a nullified toe-tap touchdown by the Patriots from being a one-win team. Instead of Tua coming back to a .500 squad, he is tasked with turning around a season that looks more and more like it is over.
Tua will face an Arizona team that isn't great in Week 8, but Miami got beat by a Colts team that wasn't great and a Titans team that is average at best. The schedule is not in Tua's favor either.
The Dolphins' schedule won't stay favorable for Tua Tagovailoa
Miami will host the Cardinals before heading to Buffalo where they will try and avoid an early-season sweep that could drop them further behind in the division chase. Then they have a cross-country trip to face the Rams, before returning home to take on the Raiders.
If the Dolphins can somehow win three of their next four games, they will get back to .500. They will then get the chance to beat the Patriots for a second time before heading into the final stretch of a season that features only one team they will be favored to beat, the Browns in Week 17.
If the Dolphins are 6-5 after the Patriots, there could be hope for the season, but they still have to face the Jets twice, the 49ers, the Texans, and Packers. There is a lot of football left to play and whether or not they can win now will be shouldered by their franchise quarterback.