In four games without Tua Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins scored a grand total of 40 points. For perspective, the last team unable to average more than 10 points per game over the course of a season was the 1991 Indianapolis Colts, who fired their coach after five games and finished 1-15.
Despite having weapons like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane, among others, backup quarterbacks Tyler Huntley, Skylar Thompson, and Tim Boyle simply couldn’t find the end zone nearly enough.
But with Tagovailoa set to return this week, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel wants to pump the brakes on the expectation that the offense will suddenly be back to firing on all cylinders with its starter.
“Across the board, I think everyone would say that he’s the leader of this team,” McDaniel said Monday. “But I think it’s important to state, and what I just finished talking to the team about is that he’s not the savior, either. There’s a lot of things that have to be looked at from an individual’s game in all three phases to get better.
“It’s not ‘Alright, Tua’s here. He’s gonna fix the issues.’ Everyone has to be on board to do their part into getting the results that we want.”
In a 16-10 loss to the Colts on Sunday, both Hill and Waddle each their first reception of the game after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. Tight end Jonnu Smith was the only Dolphins player who caught more than two passes.
Yet, there were plenty of mistakes that had nothing to do with the quarterback position. Raheem Mostert and Alec Ingold each had costly fumbles and the Dolphins racked up twice as much penalty yardage than the Colts. No team in the NFL has averaged more penalty yardage per game so far this season than Miami.
“I don’t think for myself I put any pressure on myself coming back and having to save the team,” Tagovailoa said Monday. “What we got to do is we got to look at this past game. All 11 guys on the field, were we given an opportunity, with the plays that were called, to score on every drive? And if we can say yes, then we can look at ourselves and see what we can do to get better.”
The return of Tagovailoa should smooth out many of the areas that have made the Dolphins’ offense inert so far this season. It’ll take more than the fifth-year quarterback to make the team a contender, though.
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