Are scripted plays helping Tua’s early game success? Some perspective. And Brees on Tua
Of the six games that Tua Tagovailoa has started for the Dolphins this season, Miami has scored a touchdown on the opening series in four of them, driving 80, 85, 75 and 78 yards on those immaculate possessions.
What’s more, the Dolphins churned out 56 yards on their opening possession in one of the other two games (against Buffalo in Week 8), only to miss a field goal.
Only in Week 2 against Buffalo did Tagovailoa and his teammates not drive down the field on their first possession. And he faced a relentless pass rush from the outset of that game, departing with fractured ribs after just four throws.
So that’s five excellent opening drives with Tagovailoa running the offense, including Sunday’s 11-play, 78-yard march against the Jets, a series in which the Dolphins’ quarterback was 6 for 6 for 61 yards.
Which leads to this question: Is the success on the first drive of games partly a byproduct of those plays being scripted in the days before the game, as fans have suggested?
“You really can only follow the script for so many plays,” tight end Mike Gesicki said. “It’s like the first two or three plays. Then it could be third down, it could be a different part of the field where you weren’t anticipating being. The script only lasts for so long. That’s why the fans are where they are and our coordinators are where they are.”
So is there scripting for the second and third drives?
“Yeah, there is,” Gesicki said. “There is scripting for the first two drives. But it’s all dependent on [unpredictable factors]. You’ve got a script for the second drive, but you got a turnover and you’re in plus field position, now that changes how you’re going to call the game. There are a lot of things that go into it.
“These defenses are also getting paid a lot of money to play football and these coaches are also getting paid a lot of money to stop us from moving the ball. I know everybody wants to see every drive end in a touchdown, but unfortunately that is not how this always happens.”
BREES ON TUA
I asked NBC analyst Drew Brees if he has seen enough from Tua Tagovailoa that the Dolphins should move forward with him next year and not trade for Houston’s Deshaun Watson.
“It’s tough when you make judgments on a guy with still so little game action,” Brees said on an NBC conference call to promote Thursday night’s Buffalo-New Orleans game, which he will call with Mike Tirico.
“From last year to this year, he battled some injuries along the way as well. There are times where I watch Tua and he plays really, really well with the exception of maybe one or two plays in the game.
“Unfortunately one or two of those plays was a pick or a negative play or something that impacted the game where man, it was a close game and all of a sudden, that became a little bit detrimental. Every young quarterback goes through that, where you really have to learn at the NFL level what it takes to win and more importantly, what it takes not to lose.
“It’s too soon to make any judgments on Tua. It’s unfortunate all that’s been swirling in the air around him — even at the start of this season, there was all the talk about how Miami was going to be making a trade for Deshaun Watson.
“For a quarterback to have that going on on the periphery at all times, it’s tough when you don’t feel like you have got everybody buying into you and trying to build it around you. It’s a tough situation but he’s got to worry about things he can control and focus on helping his team win each and every week.Their defense is playing a lot better; they’ve found their rhythm.”
ROSTER MOVES
The Dolphins placed linebacker Brennan Scarlett and defensive back Jamal Perry on injured reserve with knee injuries, meaning they will miss at least three weeks. Scarlett’s injury isn’t considered season-ending.
The Dolphins signed safety Will Parks off San Francisco’s practice squad. He has played in 72 NFL games with 18 starts over five seasons with Denver and Philadelphia. Selected by Denver in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, he has four career interceptions and two forced fumbles. He hasn’t played in a game this season but started three games for the Eagles in 2020.
THIS AND THAT
▪ The popular website fivethirtyeight.com gives the Dolphins a 5 percent chance to make the playoffs.
The Dolphins, who have won three in a row to improve to 4-7, can get back to .500 by winning home games against Carolina, the Giants and Jets.
But the Dolphins then close with difficult games at New Orleans, at Tennessee and home to New England.
“We’ve got six games left and say what you want, but I think what we want is still out there,” Gesicki said, declining to elaborate.
When the team was 1-7, “I know everybody else on the outside world wanted us to panic and just wanted us to bury our heads in the sand, but we weren’t going to do that,” defensive lineman Christian Wilkins said. “We just stuck together.”
Said rookie Jaelan Phillips: “The energy in the building is great right now.”
▪ Phillips is up to 3.5 sacks after getting one Sunday. Does he keep track of his sack numbers?
“My mom is the one who keeps track. She’s the one who tells me. I know it’s like 3.5 now or something like that.”
Phillips said he never set a sack goal this season.
“I didn’t want to come in with over lofty expectations and say I need 10-plus sacks or else I don’t feel like I’ve succeeded or anything like that,” he said. “I feel like that’s kind of setting myself up to fail because the reality is you can have a lot less numbers and still be productive and still learn and improve every week and do good things. So for me, it’s not necessarily the numbers that are important to me as the production. But... I love getting sacks.”
Phillips is upset with himself over his 15-yard personal foul penalty on a late hit out of bounds against the Jets.
“I know better than that and obviously that won’t happen again,” he said. ”It’s not great. Not smart.”
▪ This is the first time since 2016 that the Dolphins have won two AFC East road games in the same year. Miami won at New England in the opener this season.
▪ Jaylen Waddle is fifth in the NFL in receptions at 68, behind Cooper Kupp, Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen and DeVante Adams.
▪ Brandon Jones’ seven hits on the quarterback are the most by any NFL defensive back this season.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 4:54 PM.
