‘Losing’s never fun’: Tua Tagovailoa talks Dolphins’ playoff loss to Chiefs, contract situation
Tua Tagovailoa’s first NFL playoff game ended with a whimper. The Miami Dolphins quarterback completed just 20 of 39 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and an interception as Miami’s offense sputtered in a 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
“Losing’s never fun,” Tagovailoa said postgame. “When stakes are higher and it’s playoff time, you feel that maybe 10 times more I would say whether it’s a win or a loss. You’ve got to live with that.”
For at least another offseason, Tagovailoa will have to live with the criticisms that have surrounded his career to this point about how he hasn’t won a big game yet.
Tagovailoa also has to live with the uncertainty that could come with his future. Next season is the final on Tagovailoa’s contract, with him slated to make $23,171,000. When asked about his contract situation postgame, Tagovailoa said he’s “not worried about that right now.”
“Right now,” Tagovailoa said, “this is a moment for the guys in that locker room and our team to be with one another, to sulk in this.”
There’s reason to sulk. Saturday marked a disappointing finish to what started as a promising season.
The Dolphins started 9-3 before dropping three of their final five regular-season games to go from being the top seed in the AFC to being the No. 6 seed in the conference.
Tagovailoa, who played in every game of the season for the first time in his career, led the NFL in passing yards (4,624) while completing 69.3 percent of his passes and throwing 29 touchdowns against four interceptions.
But that production waned down the stretch — and against top-tier opponents.
In Miami’s final two regular-season losses to the Titans and Bills Tagovailoa completed just 60 percent of his passes and threw four interceptions.
That seeped into Saturday’s game against the Chiefs. The Dolphins went three-and-out on their opening drive and then Tagovailoa threw an interception on their second.
Miami found momentarily life when Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill for a 53-yard touchdown in the opening minute of the second quarter, but the offense failed to generate anything after that.
The rest of Miami’s drives the remainder of the game:
▪ Six plays, 21 yards, turnover on downs
▪ Three plays, minus-5 yards, punt
▪ Two plays, 17 yards, end of first half
▪ Three plays, 6 yards, punt
▪ Seven plays, 9 yards, punt
▪ 10 plays, 58 yards, turnover on downs
▪ 12 plays, 27 yards, turnover on downs
▪ Four plays, 28 yards, end of game
“We didn’t come together the way we wanted to offensively,” Tagovailoa said. “It showed tonight.”
Tagovailoa and the Dolphins will now take time to reflect on this ending and figure out what needs to happen to take another step forward and finally win a playoff game for the first time since 2001.
Tagovailoa wants to be the quarterback to do just that. Next year might be his final chance to prove he can do it.
“I don’t feel any pressure at all,” Tagovailoa said. “I have full trust in myself. I have full trust in what I’m capable of doing for our organization. Outside of that we’re focusing on tonight and what happened. We’re going to simmer on this and see what we can do to get better from it going into next year.”
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