National Football League

Tua Tagovailoa has been Miami's biggest asset and, briefly, worst enemy

Updated Dec. 8, 2022 6:28 p.m. ET

The Miami Dolphins go as Tua Tagovailoa goes. It's just that simple.

In the weeks that Tua was hurt and couldn't play, the Dolphins lost. Last week, in a game in which Tagovailoa played below his typically high caliber, the Dolphins lost. He is the catalyst that propelled them into the top spot in the AFC East. He is also what allowed the Buffalo Bills to leapfrog Miami over the past week. The Dolphins lost to the San Francisco 49ers because of Tua.

This isn't a diss. It's just a statement of fact — and a sign of Tagovailoa's status as an elite QB.

Mike McDaniel called one hell of a game against the 49ers, with careful playcalls that were intended to get Tua into a rhythm. But even with all of McDaniel's help, Tagovailoa struggled to hit the throws that McDaniel's system requires — the type of throws that require the accuracy that has made Tua a star this season.

His biggest issue?

"I would say my spot in the pocket," Tagovaoiloa said Wednesday. "There were many points in the game that I wasn't in the spot that I told the guys up front I would be in and so therefore, I kind of put myself in bad situations."

Tyreek Hill went off for nine catches, 146 yards and a touchdown. And while Jaylen Waddle had just one catch for nine yards, Trent Sherfield finished with a catch for 75 yards and a touchdown. Everyone else looked like they were having a good day.

For Tua, it was a no-good, very-bad day. And while the 49ers deserve praise for killing the Dolphins' chances of a comeback — with Nick Bosa logging a crucial strip sack and Dre Greenlaw recovering the fumble for a touchdown — Tua was the reason why Miami fell into a hole to begin with. Niners backup quarterback and seventh-round rookie Brock Purdy outplayed him.

"Everything that went wrong wasn't a direct result of the quarterback," McDaniel said Wednesday. "It never is exactly like that. However, we all know that he wants to play as well as he can, and he thinks that he could have done better in that game."

If Tagovailoa hadn't had an awful 2021 season — during which he earned a reputation as a draft bust with a too-weak arm — he might not face the immense security that he is encountering. But Tua is as polarizing as any quarterback. When he's up, there's a war over his elite status. When he's down, the war continues over whether he's a franchise quarterback. There doesn't seem to be any in-between — except for those who are closest to him.

"I've been fortunate enough to be able to play with one of the best quarterbacks in this league," Hill said Wednesday. "We all have bad games. We're all human. … You got to be able to move on. Tua has been great about that."

The only thing Tua can do is put up numbers. All he can do is put this game behind him and get back to winning games with an all-intergalactic passing offense, in which he is the sun and Hill is the moon. The most important response for Tagovailoa is to beat the Chargers on Sunday.

The pressure is on — and his detractors don't think he can handle the pressure. Well, he can go back to rewriting his résumé in L.A. when that game kicks off.

Tua Tagovailoa on his evolution

Tua Tagovailoa talks with Charissa Thompson about being self-critical and what it took to be "the guy" in Miami after he was benched and put on the trade block.

But then there's a bigger-picture question for McDaniel: Does he want his offense to be so singular?

Because as it stands now, the Dolphins have a strong recipe for success. When Tua's hot, they win. But that means that Tua has to be hot every week. And that's not the best way to make it through the playoffs in a win-or-go-home format. Teams like the Bills, for example, are suffering losses for the sake of figuring out how to take the weight of the offense off Josh Allen.

The Dolphins could consider something similar to see if the defense (aided by the addition of Bradley Chubb) and the resurgent rushing attack (aided by the addition of Jeff Wilson) might take more ownership in generating W's.

It's a risk, because by losing a few games, Miami could slip out of the playoff hunt. That's how tight things are in the AFC and the AFC East. If the Dolphins don't think they can afford to change at this point in the season, they can keep riding or dying with Tagovailoa.

So the real question is: How much does McDaniel trust Tua? We're going to find out.

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Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.