In the waning minutes of last Thursday night’s game between the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa frantically ran to pick up a first down. In the heat of the moment he decided to lower his head and “truck” Bills safety, Damar Hamlin.
The collision wasn’t unusual in an NFL game, but after the play, Tua remained on the ground, his right arm suspended in fencing posture. It was an all too familiar sight. As Tua sustained an even more horrific version of this injury on Thursday night football two years ago. So today, I put on my tinfoil hat and ask… was this a case of an undersized, injury-prone quarterback extending a play? Mismanagement of on-field personnel? The dreaded Amazon Prime injury curse? Or all of the above?
In 2022, Tua Tagovailoa sustained three documented concussions.
That offseason, Tua addressed the issue head on. He bulked up 30 pounds and took jiu-jitsu lessons to learn how to fall correctly and protect his head. Sliding or throwing the ball away on broken plays became his MO. As a result of this work and new philosophy, Tua led the league in passing yards, was voted to his first pro-bowl, and most importantly, didn’t miss a game. Fast-forward to 2024. Tua decides, “You know what? Maybe I should shed the weight again to be more mobile.” That’s understandable, Tua; just remember to slide and avoid getting hit.
So Thursday against the Bills, amidst a piss-poor performance overall, Tua tried carrying the team on his back. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and sometimes you can’t protect people from themselves. I understand wanting to play hero ball when you’re down, but the bigger question is, why are you down?
You were supposed to be the favorite this year. You’re playing at home, their roster is depleted, and you have more superstars. This presents an even bigger question: why have the Miami Dolphins not invested to protect these superstars? Including the 212 million-dollar “Samoan Sniper” himself. On the contrary, they released their most consistent offensive linemen, Center Connor Williams and Robert Hunt. To top that off, promising left guard Isaiah Wynn has been injured since week 7 of last season.
Now, I’m not a numbers guy, but ever since Wynn went down, Pro Bowl running back Raheem Mostert hasn’t had a hundred-yard game. This can’t be a coincidence, right? When you start playing football, even at an early age, the old heads throw two cliches around all the time: “defense wins championships” and “the game is won in the trenches.” Apparently someone powerful enough to assemble the Dolphins’ roster either hasn’t heard those sayings or is arrogant enough to think they don’t apply to them. I say this because after losing all three key pieces heading into this season while propping up all-pro veteran Tackle Terron Armstead, the Miami Dolphins have done nothing to address this glaring issue.
Any franchise worth its salt in the NFL would make this a priority.
With protection, Tua is deadly accurate, conducting our high-flying offense like a basketball point guard. Distributing the ball to arguably the fastest skill position players ever assembled on one team in NFL history. When the offense is clicking, it’s a symphony. It’s “basketball on grass.” Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane, and Raheem Mostert catch cleverly designed passes in space and blaze past defenders for chunk plays and touchdowns all day. But on occasion, they meet a smart opponent that takes these options away, smacks them around, and forces Tua to extend the play and improvise. That’s when things almost always go south.
Woe is me…this is a typical scenario any NFL quarterback will have to face, let alone one on a team with any thoughts of even sniffing a ring. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and arguably the most talented quarterback of all time, Patrick Mahomes (there I said it), all have the speed to extend plays and the physical power to occasionally lower the shoulder like Tua did and truck a stationary defender to gain extra yards when needed. You know what they also have? Elite offensive lines.
So why are these teams investing to protect their more physically imposing franchise quarterbacks while the Miami Dolphins, who have a more undersized quarterback with a significant injury history, refuse to? It’s honestly baffling. We can only speculate, but fans and even the local press have been banging on the table about this for a while (savvy ones since the Brian Flores era). Even at press conferences, these rightful concerns have been met with smug dismissal by GM Chris Grier and occasionally by coach Mike McDaniel. In fairness, I think McDaniel’s just falling on the organization’s grenades at this point.
That said, is anyone in the building bringing this stuff up? It’s so glaring to dingdongs like me who sit on a couch and hope for the best every Sunday. What do we know, right? Does former backup Center Jack Driscoll get embarrassingly tossed to the turf by Vita Vea this preseason, or Ed Oliver and AJ Epanesa taking everyone’s lunch money last Thursday not get under their skin? Even worse, how about being the team that boasted the second-to-last Pass Block Win Rate in the NFL (49%) last season? This is how you choose to protect your 212 million-dollar franchise quarterback?
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice, expecting a different result, then the Dolphins don’t qualify because they technically haven’t repeated themselves; they’ve downgraded significantly. So late in the third quarter last Thursday, with our beloved Fins down 31-10 against the Bills, our franchise quarterback pressed again. I don’t blame him. When your interior offensive line can’t get enough push to convert a 4th and one consistently, even with a stable of high-profile running backs, it’s a telling sign that your team lacks substance.
This team has made national headlines two weeks in a row for issues that run deeper than sports.
This week, the story is our quarterback’s health and when or if he’ll play again. Yet, ever since they drafted their beloved quarterback, who was severely injured even at the time of the NFL draft (rehabbing a dislocated right hip four years ago), it makes you wonder, have they not seen enough? What will it take for the Miami Dolphins to invest in strengthening their offensive line to protect him and changing our team’s identity for good?
As Dolphins YouTube legend Reason of “Phinside the NFL” states, this team will only go as far as the offensive line takes them, and it’s clear to see they won’t get very far if they don’t upgrade it immediately, even with the addition of seasoned Lamar Jackson clone Tyler Huntley. My thoughts go out to Tua and his family as they find themselves navigating this frightening situation. They also go out to the front office and scouting department. I hope they self-reflect and realize you can attempt revolutionizing the game with blazing speed and clever play design, but at the end of the day it’s football, and there are 11 meaner dudes on the other side of the line who know, when push comes to shove, they can take our lunch.
