‘No excuses.’ How Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins moved on from disastrous Texans loss
Tua Tagovailoa had arguably one of the worst games of his career in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans.
The Miami Dolphins signal caller completed roughly 73% of his passes for just 196 yards and a touchdown. He also committed four turnovers — one fumble and three interceptions — that not only turned into 10 points but also significantly hurt the Dolphins’ postseason hopes.
In the days since, coaches have praised Tagovailoa’s accountability. The question is, what does that look like?
“It’s just letting the guys know that this is why we weren’t as successful as we were in these past games,” Tagovailoa said. “Me and Tyreek [Hill] being on the same page, us not being on the same page; that’s something that we take accountability for, but there’s no excuses as to why that had happened and why it kept reoccurring. No excuses for that and that’s not the ball that we play here, and so that’s not going to happen again. We’ve got to move forward from that and it’s a new challenge that we have.”
Accountability is one of the most important qualities of any, team-based activity. That Tagovailoa and Hill seemingly fought over who bears responsibility — as coach Mike McDaniel suggested — shows maturity, a good sign considering that neither seemed on the same page for all three interceptions.
“The good news is both Tyreek and Tua have been very accountable, and both say it’s their fault,” McDaniel said. “That’s what you want. It’s the second-best to not having the discussion at all because it didn’t happen, but I think it’s very important as you move forward within the NFL season to prepare for the next opponent that guys, your whole locker room, is pointing the thumb, not the finger – that saying. And the best way to ensure that is your captains are handling themselves that way.”
Hill even admitted to running the wrong route which led the first takeaway.
“I’m all about trying to make this team better so I know the only way that that can happen is if both of us are able to express that ‘Sunday I was in the wrong spot,’” Hill said Thursday, adding that Tagovailoa threw it to the spot where he was supposed to be. He later explained the process that helps them be so accountable to their teammates. “We watch film. We break it down. We talk about the coverage, exactly what he saw and I tell him what I saw. Then we kind of argue back and forth and then we meet in the middle point, which is he probably was right.”
On the first interception, Tagovailoa seemingly didn’t see safety Callen Bullock as he dropped back into a disguised Cover 2. The second and third interception had similar issues as Tagovailoa didn’t properly lead Hill, instead throwing the ball behind him which allowed cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. to make make a play.
“Plain and simple, just my fault,” Tagovailoa said Sunday. “I’ve got to protect the ball. I’ve got to play better ball for our guys, especially in a situation where the team is counting on me to go and drive our offense down to potentially tie the game up, and that’s not what I did.”
Such behavior not only endears players to coaches but to teammates, as well.
Tagovailoa “is the face of the team, face of the franchise,” offensive guard Robert Jones said. He refused to solely blame the loss on Tagovailoa’s turnovers. “Everybody had a hand in where we could’ve been better,” Jones added — yet further commended his quarterback for shouldering the responsibility. “For Tua to come out and do that man, it just shows the character that he has. He’s a real one.”
While Tagovailoa’s play wasn’t the only reason the Dolphins lost Sunday, it certainly played a big part. As a result, the Dolphins don’t have much to play for considering their 6-8 record gives them just roughly an 8% chance at the postseason, according to The Athletic. A winning record, however, is still certainly in play.
“Finishing with a winning record for me, for sure is always something that I want to do,” Tagovailoa said, “but it’s also something that we’re trying to do collectively as a team to try to finish the season out the way we said we wanted to where we’re not rolling over, we’re not laying down and we’re going to put our best football out there and that’s what it’s going to be.”
Regardless of whether players still want to play, the tone is set from the top down. Outside of management and coaches, Tagovailoa sits at the top. He is, as Jones said, the face of the franchise. And if the quarterback refuses to give up, you better believe that everyone else will follow suit.
