Exploring a critical development of this Dolphins season and how Tagovailoa has benefited
Perhaps the most pleasant and significant surprise of this Dolphins season — which resumes at home Sunday against Las Vegas (1 p.m., CBS) — has been the team’s ability to dramatically reduce the number of quarterback pressures.
And it’s vital that the Dolphins continue doing that, because as good as Tua Tagovailoa has been overall this season, his performance when faced with a heavy pass rush ranks near the bottom of the league this year, according to a prominent metrics site. (The same is true with Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, for that matter.)
The Dolphins, according to Pro Football Reference, have allowed just 49 quarterback pressures, third fewest in the league, and a pace for 92 for the season. As perspective, the Dolphins permitted 158 pressures last season.
Miami has yielded just 15 sacks, third fewest in the league.
Right tackle Austin Jackson has permitted just one sack in 351 pass blocking chances and injured right guard Robert Hunt has yielded just one in 275.
Center Connor Williams hasn’t allowed any sacks in 174 pass blocking snaps, while left tackle Terron Armstead hasn’t permitted any in 83. That’s supremely impressive work by four of the starters.
The loss of left guard Isaiah Wynn — potentially for the season — was damaging because he had not yielded a sack in 224 pass blocking snaps before his significant quadriceps injury against Philadelphia.
Miami must hope that Lester Cotton (one sack, nine pressures allowed in 123 pass blocking snaps) and Liam Eichenberg (two sacks, seven pressures allowed in 187 pass blocking snaps, mostly at center) can adequately replace both Wynn and for now, Hunt, who should return in late November or early December.
Also notable: PFF says no Dolphins running back or tight end has allowed a sack.
And Tagovailoa’s quick release has helped curtail sacks. PFF has a metric where it determines whether to blame a quarterback for plays that result in “pressures” or sacks. PFF has blamed Tagovailoa for only six of his pressures, compared with 26 apiece for Mahomes and Jalen Hurts.
What’s more, PFF ranks Tagovailoa as the NFL’s best quarterback against the blitz this year, in part because he gets the ball out so quickly and usually, accurately.
Keeping Tagovailoa’s pocket clean is vital for obvious reasons — keeping him healthy, sustaining drives — but also for this more nuanced reason:
When Tagovailoa has been heavily pressured this season, he has struggled, as he did before coach Mike McDaniel’s arrival, but unlike last season.
In 2022, Tagovailoa had a 91.6 passer rating in the face of a heavy pass rush; that was second best among starters, behind only Buffalo’s Josh Allen (96.7).
This season, Tagovailoa’s passer rating under pressure is 52.8, which is 27th among starters, two spots behind Mahomes. That’s comparable to Tagovailoa’s 54.8 passer rating under pressure in his final season playing for Brian Flores (2021).
This season, Tagovailoa has completed only 38.2 percent of his passes when under pressure; among full-time starters, only Matt Stafford (37.9) has been worse. But it’s not a huge sample size, so I wouldn’t read too much into this.
Tagovailoa has two touchdowns and two interceptions when under pressure, per PFF.
Conversely, he has 17 touchdowns, five interceptions, a 76.2 completion percentage and a 118 passer rating when he has a clean pocket, which is second-best behind San Francisco’s Brock Purdy (120).
Tagovailoa has faced heavy pressure on less than 15 percent of his drop-backs, which is third fewest in the league. And that’s despite the fact he has been blitzed 94 times, which is the 10th most in the league among starting quarterbacks, per Pro Football Reference.
So how can Tagovailoa excel against the blitz but generally struggle this season when pressured heavily by opposing pass rushers? PFF makes a distinction; a blitz doesn’t count as a pressure if it’s picked up or if the quarterback releases the ball so quickly that he’s not under pressure at the time of the throw.
“We have many plays where a lot of what we do, our timing beats the pressure,” Tagovailoa said. “When it is a look where we don’t have time to re-ID or flip the protection, we have to be on our P’s and Q’s and understanding what you have to run and the timing of the play.”
Tagovailoa is throwing 2.1 seconds after the snap, on average, which ranks among the NFL’s quickest releases.
So besides keeping all the key starters healthy, there’s nothing more important than keeping Tagovailoa’s pocket clean.
FYI: Tagovailoa — who is second in the league in passer rating at 106.4 — has remained very good on passes thrown 20 or more air yards. His 48.6 percent accuracy on those throws (17 for 35) is fifth best for quarterbacks who have attempted at least 30 of those throws.
His 606 passing yards on those plays are third most, behind C.J. Stroud and Jalen Hurts. He has seven touchdown passes (tied with Hurts for the most) and four interceptions on those throws that travel at least 20 air yards.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 2:41 PM.
