Former Alabama quarterback, and current Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had an intersting debut start in the NFL last week, securing an unorthodox win over the Los Angeles Rams.
In the defensively dominated win, Tagovailoa completed 12 passes for 93 yards, a touchdown and a lost fumble.
Not a great showing, but certainly not a bad one considering he walked away with a win.
Now, his focus turns to the Arizona Cardinals and his former foe from the University of Oklahoma, Kyler Murray, as the Dolphins travel across the country for the Week 9 contest, a game with playoff implications as both teams are second place in their respective divisions.
Without a solid idea of how Tagovailoa can manage the game and make plays, there are still plenty of variables heading into this matchup.
The Cardinals defense ranks No. 18 in the NFL for fewest passing yards allowed per game with an average of 247.3 yards. They also rank No. 9 in the league in fewest points allowed per game with 20.9 points.
The Dolphins offensive line has allowed 11 sacks through seven games, which ranks as the ninth-fewest in the league. Arizona will look to get through the Miami offensive line and sack, or at least put pressure on Tagovailoa, as they have 19 sacks on the season.
Cardinals defensive tackle Corey Peters says pressuring Tagovailoa is all part of their plan.
“Obviously, with somebody who lacks experience, you want to put him in situations where he’s uncomfortable,” Peters said during a Zoom press conference with the media. “I’m sure their whole game plan is going to be figuring out what he does well and where he’s comfortable and trying to get him in as many of those opportunities as possible. From a defensive standpoint, we’ve got to try our best to pressure him, move him off the spot, change up some looks, try to deceive him post-snap, and hopefully, we encourage him to make some mistakes.”
While pressure on Tagovailoa could certainly cause some rash decision making and poor passes, a decent game from the Crimson Tide product could spell trouble for Arizona as he threw for an average of 315.6 yards per game in his final year at Alabama.
The Cardinals have only held one quarterback, Sam Darnold, under 265 yards. Russell Wilson also went off against Arizona in the Seahawks’ Week 8 loss where he completed 33 passes for 388 yards three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Dolphins may now look to have Tagovailoa pass more in his second start in the NFL, since starting running back Myles Gaskin is out for at least three weeks after being put on the Injured Reserve list.
Last week, the Miami offense was split down the middle, but favored the run game.
This is a contest that could go one of two ways for Tagovailoa: a hard-fought contest vs. a quarterback who he last saw in Miami at the 2018 Orange Bowl, or succumbs to inexperience, paired with the strength of the Cardinals defense, and walks away with a potentially ugly loss to tie his career record up at 1-1.