I think people are confusing the difficulty of the catch on the TD with the throw personally. That was a standard pass that is in every single playbook has and that every NFL caliber passer can make. What made it look so nice was that the WR was tackled before he caught it. I'm happier he didnt make any really stupid mistakes other than basically walking right into Donald and fumbling.
Great game overall and way to play as a team to take all the pressure off Tua...when's the last time we could say that our QB could be a non-factor in a blowout win? Great way to ease him into the league while still getting him on the field. However, it's unrealistic to expect three scores from the D and another on special teams each week. We played very vanilla on offense and I understand why, but they're going to have to trust the kid a little more next week. Too many failed attempts on 3rd and 1, for example...gotta get that stuff in check and let your QB make a play. ESPECIALLY after starting the game with a strip sack on your 1st pass attempt! Was good to see him smile after that play and shrug it off, by the way...that's the right attitude for a young QB to have when you make a mistake. By the way, I think if Fitz started today, we would have scored 55+ points. It's great that we didn't need that, so I hope Tua figured a few things out today and makes the switch worth it this season. I said three weeks ago that I could see us win six or seven straight- anyone still heavily doubting that after our 3-0 streak? Arizona may be the toughest game out of the next 5...I legit think we'll go 4-1 or 5-0 over the next 5 weeks. It's suddenly going to feel disappointing if this isn't a 10-win team in 2020. Real shame the Pats lost at the end today...we could have used a Buffalo loss. Only in 2020 would we even think about rooting for the Pats over the Bills!
Further omen... Dan Marino's first victory as a starter his rookie season was against...The Los Angeles Rams
Feel good about our team. Our defense and special teams were amazing today outside of the OB kickoff. The jury is still out on Tua. Made some good throws. Made some bad plays. I think I counted 4 dropped passes which never helps.
Outside of the dominant win I really enjoyed seeing Flores and Grier’s vision of this defense coming to life today. We were running all out blitzes becuase of the guys we have in our secondary. When we didn’t, we lined up 7-8 people on the line so they didn’t know where the attack was coming from. When you get to the QB that often, good things will happen.
Is it? There's a jury? After just one game??? Only thing Tua is guilty of is not being Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow.
Watching the bears and saints game.. saints were up 23-13 and then sean payton Went conservative underestimating that the bears could move the ball.. big mistake, theyre in overtime now.. we cant make that mistake, we gotta keep pressing on the gas until its truly out of reach
Yeah but with Tua playing like he did today, that kind of aggressiveness could just as easily lose the game.
What an incredible game! With all of the focus in today's NFL of quarterback quarterback quarterback, everyone seemed to have forgotten there's another side of football and that's defense! As I said at the half, Miami's defense was on FIRE today! Four turnovers on 2 interceptions, 2 fumbles not to mention the 2 sacks and God only knows how many tipped balls at the line of scrimmage. That defense came to play today and play they did. The defense was on the field over 36 minutes of the field and their play did a lot to halp Tagovailoa on his debut game. Offensively, Tagovailoa really needs to step up. Now granted he was facing the most dangerous man on defense in my opinion in Aaron Donald. That man is an absolute beast and Tua had trouble finding any rhythm...and Williams dropping back to back passes that were right there didn't help much. All in al, great game. This is the 3rd game in a row the Dolphins have won by 17 or more points. With what I've seen before, I have a feeling we are the team that others are going to see on their schedule and say, "oh crap, not the Fins".
I'll be honest and admit that I didn't see the defense playing this well this year. So many new pieces and they're actually having fun out there. The old trope about defense winning championships is absolutely true. And no, I don't think our defense is enough to give us a deep run in the playoffs, let alone make us championship contenders. But it's well on its way to being a dominant unit.
Yes but there's a certain element of Burrowers and Herberteers who are condemning Tua already for not being one of their afore mentioned favourites. I say already but this started way before we drafted him. Jumping in and magnifying every little error, then downplaying anything positive and refusing to accept it was anything to do with talent. This is after just one game and quite frankly I find it very VERY disappointing, coming from Dolphins fans who have had to put up with decades of under achieving, with such luminaries under centre as Fiedler, Cutler, Osweiler, Feeley, Lemon etc etc
A win is a win! Tua will get better. He hasn't played in any real games since November of last year. It will take him some time to adjust and get a feel for the game again.
And I was unhappy with every one of them when they proved to be average or below average. I have been pretty much correct in my long-term assessment of every QB we've brought in with the exception of Brian Griese, who I supported for too long after he proved to be useless mostly out of nostalgia for his last name. Oh, I've been wrong a couple times about who I would have brought in, too, I'll freely admit it. I was a Brady Quinn fan, for example. But I have a better batting average for assessing QBs than our front office by a longshot. Tua may be a good QB in this league. I am not saying he can't be or won't be. ALL I am saying is that he is not the kind of QB we were sold when they hyped him up pre-draft. His style of play is not a Mahomes or Murray or Wilson style of dynamic play I would have wanted out of a QB we were taking in the top 5. I think we could have gotten as good of a QB as him later, with our second first-round pick and done something more impactful with the fifth pick.
I have to agree with you...I didn't see our defense being this good already but silly me, I should have known better. We all should have. Look at Flores was able to do last season with a squad of complete nobodies, starting the season 0-7 and finishing 5-4 the second half of the season. Not too shabby against teams such as the Patriots, Eagles and Colts. You are correct that our defense alone won't be enough to give us a deep run in the playoffs, if we were indeed fortunate enough to make it to the tourney but that defense will be VITAL for any playoff success especially since we would have to travel to the frigid northern states to play.
I think the development of our OL is the next big piece. We invested a lot in draft picks and Fa this last offseason. They’re better than last year but if we can run the ball consistently and/or keep pressure off of Tua, this team could be very dangerous. Even though we’re in a position to possibly make the playoffs I have 0 expectations. I wanted to see improvement this year and win 7-9 games. Next year is when I would have expected a playoff team. If we’re able to do any of that this year, that’s icing on the cake.
I believe you're right, Tua will only get better. But to put some things into perspective into the Class of 2020 QB's and their first starts... Joe Burrow: 23/36, 193 yards, 1 Int and 8 scrambles for 46 yards. (loss) - The Bengals put a LOT on the shoulders of a young kid. Mixon gave them 19 rushes, but only 69 yards isn't going to help a young quarterback. Justin Herbert: 23/33 for 311 yards, 1TD and 1Int. (loss) -Now before anyone starts screaming, SEE? SEE? Keep in mind that performance was also supported by Ekeler and Kelley, rushing the ball 16 and 23 times for 93 and 64 yards respectively. With that kind of rushing support, it makes a young quarterback's job much much easier. Tua Tagovailoa: 12/22, 93 yards, 1TD. (win) -The Dolphins made a concerted effort to run the ball, with Gaskins carrying 18 times for a dismal 47 yards, but the point being, Miami wasn't going to throw the young QB in his first start to the wolves. Offensively, watching the Dolphins play yesterday was as pleasant as a root canal. You don't like it, it sucks, it's painful but....you know you need it. The last thing I'm going to do is count out the most important piece of this puzzle and that's Brian Flores. I could be wrong but I do believe next week, you'll see more of Tua...for better or worse. I mean let's be honest, the Cardinals defense is nothing like the Rams defense and I think we can all agree that Tagovailoa survived his baptism by fire.
Oh I agree! If we were to somehow make the playoffs with this expanded bracket, that would be a feather in the cap of a young team that's melding together quite well but it's NEXT year that I truly expect A LOT from this team. If we aren't dominating next season then something is seriously wrong.
The commentary on the stream I was watching said that there are very few quarterbacks, who could have made that pass to Parker for the TD. Grier and Flores have both been criticised for decisions they have made over the last 18 months or so, but I doubt any of us could have predicted that after only seven games of their second season in charge, we would be seeing such a dominant D. And so, in that vein, let’s give Tua a chance to find his feet within the system. As someone else said, he hasn’t played in real game situations for 12 months or more. OK, he didn’t set the world alight yesterday, but he wasn’t a complete disaster either. He completed more than half of his pass attempts, and if it wasn’t for two terrible drops by Williams, it would have been even better. He didn’t throw an interception, which is no bad thing, and generally looked poised. I have to say that I don’t ever remember enjoying a half of Dolphins' football as much as I did the first half yesterday.
And that’s out of roughly 3600 games, so 0.17%. This is the main reason why nobody should get very excited about that game.
There is a lot to continue to be exited about by that D. Also, why would you expect that performance to continue on offence?
I don't expect the offensive performance to continue at that poor a level, but that was driven primarily by a rookie QB from whom we have no evidence of any better performance. The defensive performance was very good, yes, but it came with two weeks of gameplanning against a team coming off a Monday night game, and of course the "bounces" that occurred and the special teams TD won't be replicable. When this team finishes 6-10 we'll look back at this game as the mirage it was. At that point we'll have the proper context.
I don’t think you’ve looked at the Dolphins schedule. If they win against the Cardinals (a big if, I think the Cardinals are one of the best teams in the league), there’s a legit chance to get to 9-3 heading into the final four games.
You think they win 2 games out of the next 9. With two of them being against the Jets and Pats again? Interesting.
If Tua doesn't improve, I would see them as not only winning only 2 of the remaining games, but regularly getting blown out in the remaining games.
He just goes by obscure analytical trends charts that he steals on some random twitter account. Ask Kevin Cash how those worked out.
I saw a much different game than you did. I'll be surprised if that Buffalo game isn't of huge importance at the end of the year. Tua did exactly what he was supposed to in that game, with the way it went, and who it was against. I am confident that the drops and miscommunications get cleared up. The team will just play better with more experience with each other. For example, I love how Tua threw the screen to Parker that was missed. Have the WR moving forward before they get the ball with that much open space. I also thought the bounces by enlarge favored the Rams. They should have turned the ball over even more than they did. After 3 dominant wins in a row, it's clear that when we have big leads at the half, the offense is going to turtle up. That happened with Fitz too. I'm fine with it, it's working.
As well as the defense played yesterday, the Rams' EPA per play was -0.26, whereas the Dolphins' was -0.51. That alone would get the Dolphins beaten convincingly in a normal game. Again remember that when you have massive returns of turnovers and a punt return TD, those yards and scores aren't going to be replicable.
If you're a Dolphins fan, that defensive performance should excite you. Of course you shouldn't expect that performance every game, but this degree is showing that it has some life to it. Everyone needs to relax.
Given how reluctant you generally are to speak about things that actually happened in games, I'm not sure how much weight you think your opinion on his performance carries? LOL First game, playing against possibly the best pass defense in the league, did you think they were going to have Tua throw it 40 times?
I'm a nobody on a message board, so I don't think my opinion carries any weight. Tua's volume wasn't what bothered me. It was the fact that he appeared to be a boy among men and didn't appear comfortable for that reason. I'm not sure he has the stature -- literally and figuratively -- to compete at this level.