Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins offense are explosive but still looking for more points
Just as important as Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s first throw in an NFL game in almost a month was his first hit. Early on in the team’s Week 7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, he lowered his head to initiate contact with Pittsburgh defenders, a jarring sight for a player who sustained a frightening concussion weeks ago.
But the third-year player told coach Mike McDaniel during the game, “I needed that,” and when he spoke to reporters Wednesday, he held no reservations about making the same decision going forward.
“I had my coaches telling me, ‘We don’t ever want you to do this,’” Tagovailoa said. “Obviously, I get that, coming off of the injury and what had happened prior with the concussion. But to me, it’s football. You go out there and for me, I can see the first down in instances and want to do all that I can to go and get it.”
With his first hit — and game — out of the way since a Sept. 29 concussion, Tagovailoa is back to leading a Dolphins offense that entered the 2022 season with high expectations. And while last Sunday the unit showed signs of the early-season promise before Tagovailoa’s injury, the lack of points scored leaves the group feeling it is only scratching the surface.
The Dolphins’ 21 points per game rank 19th in the NFL and aren’t far off from their 20.1 points per game last season, which ranked 22nd.
Against the Steelers, the Dolphins scored a touchdown on their opening possession and added a pair of field goals in the next two drives. However, for the next eight drives — excluding a game-ending kneel-down — the offense only mustered three points in an eventual 16-10 win.
“I think we’ve got to finish drives,” Tagovailoa said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to finish drives. I mean, we can march down the field to the 10-yard line and kick field goals every time, or we can march to the 30[-yard line] and kick field goals every time, but I mean, that doesn’t matter if we’re not able to finish and put the ball in the end zone. So that’s something that we definitely got to hone in on and we’ve got to get better with as far as communicating, executing and things like that.”
It’s a dissonant state for an offense that on its face is one of the more efficient and explosive units in the NFL. The Dolphins average 6.1 yards per play — tied for fourth in the league — and have two pass-catchers in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle who both rank top five in receiving yards.
McDaniel’s comments elaborated on Tagovailoa’s, saying that the offense’s high yards-per-play mark is indicative of explosive plays, but the unit isn’t finishing drives.
“I think most of those yards are a factor of our ability to get those chunk plays,” McDaniel said. “We need to sustain drives more, be better in the red zone, better at all of it, which just comes down to being better. And you’re not given that. You earn it.”
The Dolphins offense in the first half of the season has been a bit of a feast-or-famine unit. They rank 22nd in third-down conversion rate at 36.6 percent, preventing prolonged drives that travel further down the field and into scoring range. However, when they get in the red zone, their execution has been crisp. The Dolphins have turned 13 of their 20 red zone opportunities into touchdowns, the fifth-highest rate in the NFL.
Tagovailoa was off on a few of his passes to receivers against the Steelers and others were dropped interceptions by defenders. He cited timing and a lack of reps for some of the miscommunications but said that with another week of practice, he is getting back to the rhythm he had before his injury.
A matchup with a struggling Detroit Lions defense on Sunday could serve as a breakout game of sorts for the Dolphins offense. No unit is giving up more points per game (32.3) or yards per play (6.4).
“Our saying is, ‘Every play stands on its own merit,’” Tagovailoa said. “We like to think the same for every game. We understand that they’re a really good team. Obviously, their record doesn’t show but they play extremely hard, defensively, offensively and in the kicking game. They’re a really well-coached team. I’m speaking defensively, they play really hard. They’re well-coached. They run a variety of things that can confuse quarterbacks. So we’ll have to be prepared going up against these guys.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 6:01 PM.
