Tua Time? More like winning time as Tagovailoa’s fourth-quarter heroics lift Dolphins
Here’s what the Miami Dolphins look like when their rookie quarterback holds up his end:
They win exciting, cuticle-chewing, playoff-style games on the road against good teams.
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns and, just as importantly, picked up a third-and-short with his legs here Sunday.
In all, it was good enough for a 34-31 Dolphins victory — their fifth win in six games, and second in as many starts for Tagovailoa.
The win improved the Dolphins to 5-3 on the season. Miami finished the first half of the season as the AFC’s seventh seed and have the league’s eighth-easiest remaining schedule.
The Cardinals dropped to 5-3.
Tagoavailoa had never had the ball, trailing, in the fourth quarter — until Sunday.
How he responded on his first opportunity: By leading the Dolphins on a 10-play, 93-yard touchdown drive capped by an 11-yard scoring strike to Mack Hollins. On the drive, Tagovailoa completed all five of his passes for 53 yards and also scrambled for 23 more on two carries.
Then after a Dolphins’ defensive stop — Zach Seiler blew up a running play on fourth-and-1, and Elandon Roberts cleaned up the tackle — they took over on their own 40.
The score was tied. Five and a quarter minutes remained on the clock.
Tagovailoa quickly moved the Dolphins from their own 40 to Arizona’s 32. But instead of going for it on fourth and a couple of feet, Brian Flores sent out Jason Sanders for a 50-yard field goal attempt. Sanders made it, and in the process set a new franchise record by making 20 consecutive field goals.
Then Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury got too cute for his own good.
He had Murray throw, incomplete, on third-and-1 from from Miami’s 31 and despite converting on two fourth-and-shorts earlier in the game, sent in Zane Gonzalez for a 49-yard field-goal attempt.
The kick was short.
Defensive struggles
Byron Jones had an up-and-down day, surrendering two ugly touchdowns. Jones first allowed Christian Kirk to run down the middle of the field untouched en route to a 56-yard dime from Murray.
Then in half No. 2, he had a chance at an interception in the end zone, but Darrell Daniels ripped the ball away for a 21-yard touchdown.
Murray was just too much to handle. He completed 19 of his first 23 passes — three of those completions went for touchdowns — and ran all over Miami’s defense. The most meaningful scramble?
When he tucked the ball on a designed run on fourth-and-1 from Arizona’s 46, shedding a Kyle Van Noy would-be tackle and racing 28 yards.
Tagovailoa, at least early, looked much improved from the Dolphins’ second possession. The Dolphins scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives — first Jordan Howard barreled in from 2 yards out, and then Tua connected with Preston Williams on a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The Dolphins also got a defensive score from Shaq Lawson (who returned a fumble Emmanuel Ogbah forced 36 yards for a touchdown) and a 56-yard field goal from Jason Sanders, a career long. The kick was also the 19th in a row made by Sanders, which tied a franchise record.
They needed to keep the pedal pressed down, because Murray was lights out in the first half, throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for 52 yards on five carries.
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 7:35 PM.
