Somehow, some way, the Miami Dolphins' season gets worse by the week. The team was 1-5 on the year, but had an opportune opponent to get back in the win column — the Cleveland Browns. Instead, the Dolphins were the ones who were embarrassed. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was in the spotlight due in part to an abysmal overall performance.
The Dolphins lost 31-6 to the Browns. Tagovailoa threw for 100 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions. One of those interceptions was a pick-six returned by cornerback Tyson Campbell. Another one was with Tagovailoa standing in Miami's own end zone. The end zone interception was enough for head coach Mike McDaniel to banish Tagovailoa to the bench in favor of rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers.
After the game, Tagovailoa spoke with reporters and was asked about his benching. Tagovailoa offered a blunt comment, saying "head boss' decision, he made that decision."
“Head bosses’ decision. He made that decision.” - Tua Tagovailoa on benching
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 19, 2025
Tua Tagovailoa offers harsh self-assessment after getting benched by Mike McDaniel in Week 7
Tagovailoa continued, speaking on his play throughout the season. Even though the quarterback pointed to his past success in other seasons, his play this season just isn't good enough.
“Definitely not happy, not proud of where I’m at with my play, with how I’ve gone about things this year. I know I’ve gotta be a lot better — and I’ve been better for the Miami Dolphins in years past. But this isn’t years past, this is this year,” said Tagovailoa, h/t ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques.
Tagovailoa has led the Dolphins to the playoffs twice during his tenure as starting quarterback. The offense led by him had been one of Miami's strengths during the Mike McDaniel era. But this year, the offense has looked out of sync, even with a healthy Tyreek HIll.
After the game, former Dolphins linebacker Kim Bokamper said during his appearance on CBS 4 that Tagovailoa's performance against Cleveland "maybe the worst game I've ever seen by a quarterback in the National Football League," h/t Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Tagovailoa had been pointing to the "operation" on offense not being functional, saying that the team didn't line up properly and resulted in bad plays. But, three interceptions thrown in a game and getting blown out by a Browns offense that has a mess at the quarterback position is not acceptable for Dolphins fans.
Entering Sunday's game, Tagovailoa had thrown for 1,213 yards, 11 touchdowns, and seven interceptions on a 69.8 completion percentage.
Tagovailoa and the Dolphins know that they need to play better. If they don't there may very well be wholesale changes before the season ends.