All off-season we had to listen to people question Tua Tagovailoa for how last season ended, how he played vs the Chargers and how he would fair in week 1 in the rematch, and of course everyone's favorite "CaN tUa ThRoW dEeP?" But if you watched the Dolphins 36-34 victory over the Chargers you already know...
Tua Tagovailoa is that dude everyone.
There is more to talk about in this game outside of Tua but any conversation about this game has to start with the Dolphins' 4th year signal caller for his outstanding performance. Tua finished the day 28/45 (62%) for 466 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 (DPI on J.C Jackson) int, good enough for a passer rating of 110.0. Tua was phenomenal under pressure quickly moving in and out of the pocket to find throwing windows (see 3rd down pass to Berrios and of course the big play on the move to Tyreek). If Tua can maintain his level of play and can stay healthy, the man is getting his bag this off-season (which would be great for the teams current cap situation).
Passing Game:
Man I am so glad that Tyreek Hill's career is over (remember when that was a thing?). Tyreek is that dude and at this rate, would anyone be surprised if he hits his goal of 2k receiving yards? (yes we would because that is insane but he is on pace for 3600 yards right now soooooo). Even with Waddle hampered by his oblique injury he still had a solid day going for 78 yards on 4 receptions. Now one of the more underrated story lines this off-season was the improvement of the Dolphins #3 receiver spot. Whether it was Berrios or Cracraft yesterday, both dudes balled out and made critical catches for this team. For as good as Miami is at WR1 and WR2, they needed a guy to step up and fortunately for Miami they had two guys who did. Ezukanma seems like he is going to be that gadget guy for this offense and I am here for it. No targets or catches but he contributed 2 runs for 17 yards. Big shout out to the offensive line that didn't allow a sack and only allowed 2 QB hits all day. Kendall Lamm and Austin Jackson (AUSTIN JACKSON!) were very good at tackle and the Isaiah Wynn and Rob Hunt held their own. Then there is Connor Williams. No comment.
Running Game:
It's pretty clear to see why Miami chased so many running backs this off-season (Still looking at you Jonathan Taylor week 5). Miami's run game was non-existent and while a lot of that has to do with how well #1 was slinging the football, the backs just weren't impressive yesterday. Now the Chargers were able to blow up some run plays with Khalil Mack but still, Miami, just like last year, is going to need to find more balance as the season moves along. Continuing to get Ezukanma some schemed touches is smart but the OLs run blocking and the backs all need to get better.
The pass defense in the secondary was decent minus the big 3rd down conversion to Mike Williams and long competition to Keenan Allen who was covered by David Long. Xavien Howard really struggled in run support and was called for 3 penalties. My biggest concern is the pass rush. When Miami rushed only four (generally Wilkins, Sieler, Chubb, Phillips) there was almost no impact on Herbert. Simply put, the Chargers OL owned the Dolphins' pass rush yesterday (Phillips did have some nice moments) which isn't ideal considering Bradley Chubb cost $110m and a 1st round pick and Wilkins is looking to get paid $20m+. When Fangio turned up the heat the Dolphins were able to get home 3 times but I am still worried about the pass rush but it is early.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72633412/1464787091.0.jpg)
What's next?
The Dolphins travel to New England to take on the Patriots on Sunday Night Football. We will have our game preview out later this week!
PHINS UP!