Kelly: Tua Taking Dolphins to New Heights

The Miami Dolphins offense is taking off because of the investment made into quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the growth the franchise is seeing in year four

Most of the criticism has turned into praise.

The Miami Dolphins' hot start has finally convinced the NFL universe that Tua Tagovailoa’s standing as the top-rated quarterback in 2022 wasn’t a fluke, or some statistical abnormality.

It was part of his destiny.

“Tua is him,” tailback Raheeem Mostert has consistently vowed.

“One is the one,” offensive tackler Terron Armstead said, using the Matrix term, referring to the figure who will save the people, and pairing it with Tagovailoa’s jersey number (1).

He’s the quarterback who will elevate the Dolphins franchise, which has been starving on mediocre quarterbacks since Dan Marino retired in 1999.

“He’s the MVP,” receiver Tyreek Hill said during the game at the conclusion of one of Tagovailoa’s four touchdown passes while mic’ed up during Miami’s 70-20 beatdown over the Denver Broncos.

The interesting thing is Tagovailoa threw two touchdown passes with each of his hands.

“I never thought of it as throwing with my right hand for a touchdown pass for those two shovels. But it’s what it was, so that was cool,” said Tagovailoa, whose 121.9 passer rating has him ranked No. 1 in the NFL. “Two left and two right. Has it ever been done in the NFL?”

Everyone fully Invested in Tua's growth

The Dolphins coaches and players have believed in Tagovailoa for some time now, going back to last season’s hiring of Mike McDaniel, who has consistently encouraged and empowered the fifth pick of the 2020 NFL draft.

This season the rest of the world — with the exception of Hawaii, Alabama and Tuanon, which has always believed — is finally catching on.

The Dolphins have the best offense in the first month of the NFL season because their trigger man is doing a masterful job of reading the field, dissecting defenses, executing on third downs, and in the red zone.

Miami is setting franchise records because the offensive line is protecting their quarterback, who has been sacked once this season, and hit five times in three games.

The Dolphins (3-0) are now viewed as a force in the AFC because the team has an offense that features balance, the capability of doing the opposite of whatever a defense is trying to take away.

And the speed to make teams pay for their mistakes.

McDaniel says Tua's impact exceeds the stat sheet

Tagovailoa’s days of doubting himself, which the Brian Flores era of the franchise triggered, seem to be over.

“What Tua is doing is beyond the stat sheet, because we’re doing a lot of movement. We’re moving a lot of pieces every snap. There’s a lot of timing involved with a lot of things that he’s doing, not just passing. All of that orchestration and the lack of pre-snap penalties, starts with the quarterback position” McDaniel said. “The immense amount of stuff that he has to learn and execute every week, and then it goes down to the entire offense…You’re just seeing some growth in our production from an offensive standpoint.”

McDaniel and his teammates have injected Tagovailoa with confidence, and he’s finally comfortable enough to show the world who he is.

“He’s a magician, he’s a dawg,” said Austin Jackson, the Dolphins’ starting right tackle. “He’s a great football player, great teammate.”

Tagovailoa was asked when was the last time he remembered having this much fun playing football.

He paused, tilted his head backward and said it was during his tenure at the University of Alabama, which he led to a national championship.

“It’s hard in this league to do good things because guys on the other side are really good as well. They study and they’re really good,” Tagovailoa said. “ But it’s been a lot of fun, that’s for sure this year.”

The only way to keep the party going is to continue winning, and Sunday’s AFC East showdown against the Buffalo Bills, the team that has reigned over the AFC East for the past three seasons, is Miami’s chance to prove they are one of the NFL’s new powers.

“We got to beat these guys. That’s how I see it. I don’t think there’s any other way to look at it,” Tagovailoa said. “They’re the next team up and that’s how I think all our guys see it. We’re not worried about anyone else right now this week, except for the Bills.”