It has not been a great start for the Miami Dolphins, as they entered Sunday with a 1-6 record. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been heavily criticized this season due in part to his poor play. On Sunday, it seemed as though Tagovailoa could be in line for another rough game, as he dealt with an illness that left his left eye swollen shut just hours before kickoff. Even so, Tagovailoa still played.
Even with the swollen eye, Tagovailoa had his game of the season, completing 20-of-26 pass attempts for 205 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Dolphins pick up a huge 34-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons. This may very well have been Tagovailoa's version of Michael Jordan's "Flu Game."
After the game, Tagovailoa showed up wearing sunglasses and said that he wasn't sure what caused his eye to swell up, whether it was a sty or an allergic reaction. He thanked the Dolphins' medical staff for their help in getting him ready enough to play.
"Probably one of the worst experiences I've had in terms of waking up and that happens on game day," said Tagovailoa. "My eye was swollen shut and then thanks to the medical staff, they ended up helping with antibiotics and whatnot. I'm just glad I was able to go out there and play."
Tua Tagovailoa drops incredible quote after Dolphins' dominant win over Falcons
Tagovailo also dropped this gem of a quote, saying that getting a win is "the best feeling" and that even with the noise from those outside, he says "this is our job."
Tua on how he feels after a win like this: “It feels good but any time you ca get a win it’s the best feeling. People are gonna talk, they’re gonna say what they think they need to say but this is our job.”
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) October 26, 2025
Before getting into his eye illness, Tagovailoa spoke on the team's performance as a whole, and said it may have been the best game they've had in a while. Plus, Tagovailoa said this is the "swag" the team has to carry over in the coming games.
"I would say that's one of the better team wins that we've had in all three phases. Defense allowing us to get the ball back, defense stopping them on third down. Us being able to convert those third downs, outside of that convert a couple of fourth downs to keep us in the game and then allow us to go down and score. That was our goal, to not end with three [points] as much times as we get down there in the red zone, it's to end with seven. And for the defense, vice versa. Not allow them to get seven, allow them to get three. I think we did a really good job of that today.
"This is sort of the swag I think we got to flow over to the next week's game, next opponent."
The Dolphins were incredibly efficient on third down. On 13 third downs, Miami converted on six of them. In five red zone trips, the Dolphins ended up scoring a touchdown on three of them, all of them passes from Tagovailoa.
This comes one week after the Dolphins lost decisively to the Cleveland Browns. Tagovailoa threw three interceptions in that loss and got benched late in the game. One week later, the Dolphins have their most impressive win of the year, all with Tagovailoa dealing with a swollen eye.
We'll see if the Dolphins truly do carry over the momentum into the next game, where they take on the Baltimore Ravens this Thursday.