Tua Tagovailoa is a Miami Dolphins fan and got to see and feel what every fan has been going through for more than a decade. The Dolphins are not a good football team.
This isn’t exactly breaking news to anyone who has watched them play this season, but the offense’s struggles are far more concerning than Mike McDaniel’s handling of the play-calling. Dolphins fans are learning that the McDaniel system isn’t a system at all.
It’s Tua and only he can run it.
It’s like having a shiny new sports car but forgetting to put it in gear. The parts are there, the potential is obvious, but nothing is clicking. The Dolphins have been stuck in neutral, and everyone’s waiting to see if Tua’s return can jumpstart the engine.
Tua will be out until Week 8, but it looks as though he won’t miss time beyond that. Per Adam Schefter, the Pro Bowler isn’t having any symptoms from his Week 1 concussion and if all goes to plan, he’ll be in action once Week 8 gets here:
Dolphins fans are looking at his return as a season-saving event, but by the time he arrives, it may be too late to turn the campaign around.
Miami’s toughest part of their schedule is still in front of them and will come after Week 8. They have more road games than home games and have wasted two meetings at Hard Rock Stadium already. The offensive line is playing so poorly right now that anyone behind center isn’t going to have a ton of time to scan the field.
The entire offense is out of sync and Miami hasn’t beaten anyone with a winning record since they narrowly beat the Dallas Cowboys in 2023.
The news that Tagovailoa has been cleared of symptoms is also being met with criticism by the fans. Why was he put on Injured Reserve to begin with?
The Dolphins gave up on him quickly when they could have waited a week or two to gauge his progress. Now, they are setting themselves up for failure before he comes back.