Tua Tagovailoa played a near-flawless game for three quarters in Week 2, but it was his play over the final 15 minutes that may end any hopes for a Miami Dolphins season recovery.
After the game, Tagovailoa stood at the podium with plenty to say, but his answers all pointed to one uncomfortable truth: the Dolphins don’t have any answers for how to win right now, and even he seems to know the season is slipping away.
"0-2, we're not saying this is the end of the season, but I think for me and Waddle in the league, I don't think we've started a season 0-2."
Tua Tagovailoa's comments sound more like a dire warning to Dolphins fans
Yes, it's only two weeks into the season, and you never know what can still happen. Even the Chiefs have to climb out of a 0-2 hole, but the Dolphins obviously are not Kansas City, and they didn't open the season against the Chargers and Eagles.
Tagovailoa didn't come across confident in his answer, but instead almost resigned to the fact that their season is hanging on by a thread. Starting 0-2 is far from a death knell, and other teams have come back from a poor start, but can Miami?
The Dolphins aren't built to come from behind in a game, let alone the season. There are problems with execution and communication that they have had all offseason to work through. While Tagovailoa looked far less concerned than Mike McDaniel did after the game, the reality is that Tagovailoa is part of this team's problem.
Miami's ability to come back from this type of start is predicated on Tagovailoa being the leader - and performer - the team is paying him to be. Still, he continues to talk about everyone else as being part of the issue instead of taking complete accountability himself.
Tagovailoa mentioned that he intends to talk to quarterback coach Darrell Bevel and McDaniel after the game about what they can do to fix some of the communication issues, but ultimately, it falls on his shoulders to complete passes and make good decisions with the football.