Passing Thoughts: YAC, Beating the Baltimore DBs, and Tua Talk

Breaking down how the Miami Dolphins did in terms of yards after the catch in Week 1 and how that might change against Baltimore

Not surprising that Tyreek Hill came up with a great quote after the Miami Dolphins' 20-7 season-opening victory against the New England Patriots as he talked about Jaylen Waddle's 42-yard touchdown.

“We talk about that all the time in our meeting rooms as a wideout; if you want to be good, just get the catch, but the great ones, they get drunk off the YAC (yards after catch)," Hill said. "He obviously did that and made a big play in a big moment for the team, and it carried over to the next half.”

"Drunk off the YAC" absolutely was a gem, and the Dolphins did some YAC-ing in that Week 1 game, though maybe not to the point of getting drunk.

The stats showed the Dolphins gaining 118 yards after the catch against New England, led by Waddle's 30 yards on his touchdown and Hill's 18-yard after catching a quick pass at the line of scrimmage.

Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds also each had a play that featured more than 10 yards after the catch.

But, as with everything else dealing with the offense, this was one game and the Dolphins figure to get better in that area.

By one measure, the Dolphins did better in YAC than they did in 2021, but they were worse in another.

The 118 yards after catch on Tua Tagovailoa's 23 completions represented an average of 5.13 YAC, a clear improvement over Miami's 2021 average of 4.3, which was tied for 30th in the NFL.

But the 118 yards represented 43.7 percent of Tua's passing yardage on the day, which actually was less than the Dolphins' average of 43.8 last season when they had 1,725 YAC off their 3,936 total passing yards.

CAN DOLPHINS GO DEEP AGAIN?

One thing that was missing from the Dolphins offense in Week 1 was a deep shot downfield, and a look back at the Miami-Baltimore game from last year might offer hope it could happen Sunday.

The Dolphins' 22-10 victory in that Thursday night game last November will be remembered for Xavien Howard's defensive touchdown and Tua Tagovailoa coming off the bench to relieve an ineffective Jacoby Brissett, but as big a factor as any in the outcome was the Dolphins taking advantage of some really bad Baltimore breakdowns in the secondary.

On two specific plays, the Ravens left a Miami receiver wide open downfield and the result was a 52-yard pass from Brissett to Isaiah Ford in the second quarter and a 64-yard hook-up from Tua to Albert Wilson in the fourth. Those plays led to a field goal and a touchdown, respectively.

The Ravens took safety Kyle Hamilton in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft to address some of their coverage deficiencies, but he played only 50 percent of the snaps in their 24-9 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday. The Ravens did use extra defensive backs extensively in that game, and it would not be a surprise to see them do it again Sunday to help deal with Hill and Waddle.

THE TUA TALK

The neverending Tua takes this week including comments that stood out from both former Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, and they're worth discussing.

We'll start with Payton saying, actually predicting, that Teddy Bridgewater eventually will replace Tagovailoa in the lineup for reasons other than injury.

Let's start with saying that the odds of that certainly would appear astronomical because the Dolphins spent the entire offseason telling anyone and everyone they were all in on Tua, they made moves all year to try to help him succeed, and most importantly because they face an important decision next offseason as to what to do with Tua when he becomes eligible for a contract extension and a decision also will have to be made about a fifth-year extension.

Also remember that Payton coached Bridgewater in New Orleans, so he's always got a soft spot for him.

As for Fitzpatrick, he offered on the "Pardon My Take" podcast this assessment of Tua, with whom he played during the 2020 season: “If you’re a top-10 quarterback, you have to have at least one trait that’s absolutely special, something you can do that no one else can do. Josh Allen, I think, we see the arm talent. We see the way he can scramble and run, the hits he can take, the hits he can deliver. (Justin) Herbert, physically, the same thing.

"With Tua, it’s not the the arm strength, it’s not the ability to run or scramble or get out of trouble. What is it? People say, ‘Well, he’s a winner.’ Tyreek [Hill] says, ‘He’s the most accurate I’ve ever seen.’ When I first saw Tua, what pops out for me, because it’s hard for a young quarterback to come in and do this: anticipation and accuracy.

“Those are the things he has to be elite at. I think he’s very, very good at — very accurate and can anticipate. The problem is you sometimes have to create. He’s not going to be able to scramble – he’ll be able to scramble and get out of trouble and get you 5 yards. But he’s not going to be able to scramble around, escape the pocket and make the big plays down the field. So he has to take what he has that (can become) elite. That’s accuracy and, as he gets older, that’s decision-making.

“He has to be the best in the NFL at it, because he’s limited in some of those other ways.”

And to that, all we'd say, is there one word in Fitzpatrick's comments that is not accurate?

This also should not have been seen as a shot at Tagovailoa, particularly since he didn't dismiss the idea of Tagovailoa becoming elite, but rather as an honest assessment from somebody who has played the position.