A startling statistic about Tua Tagovailoa and what it says about the Miami Dolphins
One public narrative is that Tua Tagavailoa doesn’t take enough chances in the passing game, that he’s excessively conservative because of his understandable desire to avoid turnovers.
But while Tagovailoa admits he must look for more opportunities in the downfield passing game, this is notable: According to analytics site @viathesource, Tagovailoa has the second-highest percentage of throws into tight coverage in the league at 22.8 percent. That runs counter to the perception that he’s not willing to take chances.
Fitzpatrick has the third-highest at 21.7 percent. Russell Wilson and Pat Mahomes have the lowest, each below 11.5 percent.
The fact Dolphins quarterbacks must often throw into tight windows is a clear indication that Dolphins receivers don’t get enough separation from defensive backs.
With DeVante Parker out the past two games, Tagovailoa and Fitzpatrick have been working with one receiver claimed off waivers during the 2019 season (Mack Hollins), a rookie seventh-round pick (Malcolm Perry), a player waived by New England in December (Isaiah Ford) and a third-round rookie (Lynn Bowden) who was traded by Las Vegas before his first season with the team.
And consider this: Before his injury, Parker had only 1.6 yards of separation, on average, from defensive backs, which is the worst in the league among qualifying receivers, per Next Gen Stats. Among tight ends, Mike Gesicki has the least average separation from the player covering him (2.1 yards). And those are the Dolphins’ best playmakers!
FLORES, McDERMOTT WEIGH IN
Highlights from Brian Flores’ Thursday morning Zoom session with reporters:
▪ Flores, asked how rookie left tackle Austin Jackson has played: “Austin has improved over the course of the year, showed some mental and physical toughness. He’s improved and developed over the course of the season.”
▪ On the possibility of snow at Sunday’s Bills game, Flores said: “The elements are what they are. I don’t see them having much of an impact.”
▪ Asked to reflect on 2020, Flores said: “2020 has been an interesting year. A lot has gone on with the pandemic, things like George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery [two Black men who were shot in tragic incidents that received considerable national coverage].
“It’s been difficult for a lot of people, a lot of people around the country and around the world. That time when we were in lockdown, I spent a lot of time with my wife and my kids. So that was really good. We learned about making sacrifices and not seeing your family — for us, as a team.
“I thought the draft [conducted remotely, from homes of coaches and players] was a lot of fun. My kids can’t wait for the draft next year. You can sit here and talk about how bad everything was but there was a lot of good.”
▪ Though road teams have won 50 percent of their games in a year with only limited fans or no fans in stadiums, Flores said: “It certainly doesn’t feel easy to win on the road” this year.
▪ In the wake of offensive coordinator Chan Gailey politely refusing to say if he wants to return next season, Flores declined to offer clarity, noting that Gailey is thinking about the Bills and “that’s where I want his focus on energy. I’ll leave it at that.”
▪ Bills coach Sean McDermott again declined to say if he will rest starters against the Dolphins.
The Bills are competing with Pittsburgh for the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs — behind Kansas City — but unlike past years, the No. 2 team won’t get a first-round bye, with the playoff field expanded to seven teams in each conference.
So what’s essentially at stake is home field advantage in a potential Bills-Steelers AFC semifinal playoff matchup.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin announced this week that he will rest Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday, and that backup quarterback Mason Rudolph would start against Cleveland.
But McDermott refused again on Thursday to say if Josh Allen will start at quarterback for the Bills. Matt Barkley is Buffalo’s backup QB.
The Bills announced this week that they will have 6700 fans at their playoff games — after having no fans all season, including this Sunday’s game.
But McDermott declined to say if the possibility of generating revenue from a second home playoff game would factor into his decision about how much to play his starters on Sunday.
“We are going to keep our plans internal,” he said. “We’re going to do what’s best for our football team. All the variables that go into it have been evaluated.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 10:09 AM.
