Why Tua Tagovailoa’s growth as a quarterback will make the Dolphins difficult

Tua Tagovailoa has not lost to the New England Patriots.

Yes, you read that right. The Miami Dolphins signal caller is a perfect 6-0 when he lines up against the Patriots. And what exactly does that mean?

“It means nothing for this week and I think that’s important in either scenario of matchups; those are different teams, those are different times of the year,” coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday afternoon, later adding that he thinks “the biggest set up in the National Football League is praise or overindulgence into stats of former teams. It is the Miami Dolphins versus the New England Patriots on Sunday; first time that we’ve played against this quarterback, first time that we played this season on the heels of a two-game winning streak.”

In a sense, McDaniel is right. This year is markedly different than 2023. For starters, Tagovailoa missed the first matchup with the Patriots due to a concussions. Then there’s the fact that the legendary Bill Belichick won’t be on the other sideline as former inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo replaced the six-time Super Bowl winner in the offseason. And as Tagovailoa prepares to help the Dolphins try to extend their win streak to three games, he plans to approach the Patriots matchup similar to his head coach: as if the history doesn’t matter.

“We’re preparing for uncertainty, if there is, defensively,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday. “But it’s very similar to the structure they’ve had over the past few years when Coach Belichick was the coach there. So we’re looking to go out there and play the plays with what they’ve presented us over the years and if we need to adjust in any way, we’ll adjust.”

The Dolphins offense, however, also look very different than they did last year. Formerly known as one of the most explosive offenses in football, the Dolphins have slowed down a bit. Or rather, the big plays aren’t as frequent as they were in 2023, leading the offense to put together slow, methodical scoring drives. Case-and-point: the Dolphins scored on drives of 14 (twice), 16 and 10 plays against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I think last year we might have had three drives that were 14-plus plays the entire year,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “So it has been a focus of ours in anticipation of how guys were going to defend us and then as we’ve gone through the season, adjusting to how defenses have adjusted to us, and I think that’s a lot of hours of practice, meeting room -- that’s what comes to mind.”

And sure, the two-high safety looks that the Dolphins have consistently gotten all season somewhat necessitated the need for offensive changes yet a key part of these drives has been Tagovailoa’s improved ability to extend plays. His growth in that area is why the Dolphins are ranked second in third down conversions over the last three games. McDaniel touched on Tagovailoa’s improvisational skill after the Raiders game.

“He’s taken a gigantic step in his game,” McDanial said after the 34-19 victory over the Raiders. “He’s got control of the emotional piece of the football game and isn’t trying to force things unnecessarily, isn’t trying to make plays when they’re not there, but also finding ways to extend plays and making more plays than maybe the play that I gave him enabled them to do.”

One, 2nd-and-10 play early in the second quarter illustrated Tagovailoa’s growth. After faking the handoff to halfback De’Von Achane, Tagovailoa drops back. He sees nothing and decides to dart to his right. The Raiders edge rusher nearly gets around tackle Kendall Lamm, forcing the quarterback into the middle of the field where he feels pressure from the left side. Tagovailoa takes a tiny step back – just enough for tight end Durham Smythe to push the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby slight out of his quarterback’s way – then darts even further to the left before finding Waddle for 24 yards.

To the untrained eye, it might have appeared as a regular, 20-yard play. What actually happened, however, is the result of Tagovailoa’s growth as not just a quarterback but within the offense itself. He simply called it an another evolution of the McDaniel offense.

“That would be the reasoning as to why you see a lot more check downs, a lot more trying to get the ball to open guys within the progression, whether it’s the third, fourth or the fifth progression,” Tagovailoa said Monday, later adding “Would we like to take shots? We would, we would, but that’s if they present themselves, is sort of what I’m trying to say.”

The Patriots were truly a Ja’Lynn Polk toe away from a victory over the Dolphins in Week 5. With the way Tagovailoa and the offense have looked as of late, it will likely take a lot more than a footwork mishap for the Patriots to have a chance come Sunday.