Why Tagovailoa blames himself, and a look at how the Dolphins can still make the playoffs
Tua Tagovailoa, when healthy, has the best completion percentage in football and the third highest passer rating. But the Dolphins quarterback on Wednesday held himself partly responsible for Miami’s 5-7 record.
“Very surprised,” Tagovailoa said of the team’s record. “I don’t think that shows the character of who we are as a team, doesn’t show the work that we’ve put in this offseason together.
“But, you know, nobody else will say it but me. And I feel like this has a lot to do with myself, obviously, putting myself in harm’s way in the second game going down, basically leaving my guys out to dry. That’s what I would say. And anyone can have an opinion about like, it’s football, it’s this, it’s that...I don’t want to do that to my guys again.”
Tagovailoa missed four games after sustaining a Week 2 concussion against Buffalo. Miami is 4-4 when Tagovailoa starts, 1-3 when he doesn’t.
PLAYOFF PATH
The Denver Broncos’ win against Cleveland on Monday further diminished the Dolphins’ playoff chances. There’s still a path for Miami to make it, but the Dolphins have no margin for error and need plenty of help.
If the Dolphins (5-7) make the playoffs, they would do it as a wild card team; Buffalo clinched the AFC East on Sunday.
Here would be Miami’s path to overtake the three teams who hold the AFC’s three wild card spots, as well as a fourth potential playoff pathway that also has surfaced:
▪ Beating out the 8-4 Chargers, who hold the first wild card spot and fifth playoff seed:
Miami would win the tiebreaker if the teams finish tied because Miami and Los Angeles don’t meet this season, and the Dolphins would have the superior conference record. But the Dolphins need to make up three games in five weeks - a tall order.
The Dolphins would edge out the Chargers if Miami wins out and if the Chargers lose three of their final five: at Kansas City, home to Tampa Bay, home to Denver, at New England and then at Las Vegas. Miami also would need one Indianapolis loss, unless the Colts win the AFC South.
Los Angeles will be an underdog in only one of those five games (at the Chiefs). So beating out Jim Harbaugh’s team for a playoff berth seems unlikely for Miami.
▪ Beating out the 8-5 Ravens, who hold the second wild card spot and sixth playoff seed:
The Dolphins would win a tiebreaker with Baltimore by virtue of the fact that Miami would have a superior conference record.
The Ravens have a bye this week and then play at the Giants, against Pittsburgh, at Houston and home to Cleveland.
So if the Dolphins win out and the Ravens lose to the Steelers and Texans, then Miami would make the playoffs over Baltimore, provided the Colts lose a game or win the AFC South.
▪ Beating out the 8-5 Broncos, who hold the third wild card spot and seventh playoff seed:
If the teams finish tied, Miami would win the tiebreaker because it would be guaranteed to have a superior conference record.
Denver has a bye this weekend and then closes against the Colts, at the Chargers, at Cincinnati and home against Kansas City.
So if the Dolphins win out, and the Broncos lose twice (certainly possible with their difficult schedule), Miami would make the playoffs ahead of Denver — provided Indianapolis loses one of its final four games and doesn’t overtake Houston to win the AFC South.
▪ The Indianapolis winning AFC South scenario:
The Colts (6-7) own the tiebreaker with Miami by virtue of their victory against the Dolphins. Indianapolis has a relatively easy schedule to close the season after a bye this weekend: at Denver, home to Tennessee, at the Giants, and home to Jacksonville.
Let’s say Indianapolis and the Dolphins both win all their remaining games. That would leave the Colts 10-7 and Miami 10-7.
Houston, which is now 8-5, owns the AFC South tiebreaker with Indianapolis by virtue of beating the Colts twice.
So even if the Colts win out to finish 10-7, Houston would need to finish 9-8 for the Colts to win the division. That means besides losing to Miami in Houston, the Texans also would need to lose two other games, which is quite possible, because they play at Kansas City and home against Baltimore before finishing at Tennessee.
In that scenario, the Colts would win the AFC South at 10-7 and Miami would claim the final AFC wild card spot over 9-8 Houston and Denver if the Broncos lose twice.
INJURY NEWS
Cornerback Kendall Fuller — who has missed three games while in concussion protocol — practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday and McDaniel has said he’s optimistic that Fuller will play on Sunday. Cornerback Kader Kohou, nursing a back injury, also was a limited practice participant.
▪ Linebacker Anthony Walker Jr., who missed the Green Bay game with a hamstring injury, did not practice Wednesday but likely will practice on Thursday, McDaniel said.
Besides Walker and right tackle Kendall Lamm (elbow/back), three other players missed practice: left tackle Terron Armstead (knee), defensive lineman Calais Campbell (rest) and receiver Tyreek Hill (wrist and rest).
Eight Dolphins were limited: Kohou, Fuller, outside linebackers Bradley Chubb and Cameron Goode (who both practiced for the first time since late last season), defensive tackle Benito Jones (shoulder/back), running back Raheem Mostert (hip), safety Jordan Poyer (wrist/finger) and guard Isaiah Wynn (quad/knee).
▪ The Dolphins designated long snapper Blake Ferguson to return this season; Miami has 21 days to activate him. Ferguson has missed seven games after going on the non-football injury list but has been around the team for weeks.
NFL teams can activate eight players off injured reserve during a season and Ferguson will be Miami’s sixth, following Cam Smith (back on IR), Tua Tagovailoa, River Cracraft, Patrick McMorris and Tyler Huntley.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 4:41 PM.
