The Miami Dolphins manage a surprising victory against the Baltimore Ravens. Although he is not on the field from the start, a strong Tua Tagovailoa shows that he can also win games with the necessary defence. In the question of the long-term solution in Miami, he thus puts an exclamation mark.

Munich – The performance of the Miami Dolphins continues to be a mystery this season.

The South Beach franchise stands at a record of three wins and seven losses after beating the Baltimore Ravens, but often played better than the results would indicate. In the Thursday Night Game, both sides of the field showed what could actually be possible with this team.

Especially the recently shaky defence had Lamar Jackson and Co. under control for the most part and kept the offensive line off guard. They only became dangerous when the injured Tua Tagovailoa came into the game.

Wild quarterback shake-up in Miami

Just hours before the start of the game, the Dolphins announced that starting quarterback and franchise hopeful Tua Tagovailoa would not be able to start for the second straight game. A finger injury forced the young playmaker to initially serve as a backup to actual backup Jacoby Brissett.

It was noticeable, however, that the 23-year-old seemed to warm up without any problems and was disappointed when the coaches told him of the decision.

Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t even have his face painted. He was clearly bummed walking off the field after warmups. Duke Riley seemingly gave him a prep talk. The whole time Tua kept shaking his head, seemingly in disappointment.

– Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) November 12, 2021

That Tua did take on a crucial role was due to a knee injury to Jacoby Brissett shortly after half-time. After a short treatment, the veteran gave the sign to be able to play again, but head coach Brian Flores had obviously seen enough. He in turn disappointed Brissett, who subsequently took a seat on the bench while Tua took the reins.

Tua grits his teeth

While Brissett managed just 156 passing yards on 11 of 23 successful throws, Tua proved far more effective with 158 yards on 8 of 13 attempts. His touchdown run with just under two minutes remaining also clinched the end of a hard-fought game – despite obvious pain in his hand.

“It doesn’t feel good, I can definitely say that much,” he explained after the game. “It got worse again during the game, but we have ten days now for it to heal,” he said of the injury.

The youngster further stated that he was unable to train with the first team throughout the week. This makes his performance all the more astonishing. After all, he didn’t beat any walk-ons with the Ravens, but one of the big favourites for the playoffs in the AFC.

If there was ever a serious duel without the injury between him and Brissett, it should have been decided in Tua’s favour by Thursday at the latest. If the young Hawaiian stays fit, he should be assured of a starting spot by the end of the season. Whether he’s the long-term solution in Miami, however, is only partly in the 2020 first-round pick’s own hands.

Time is running out: victories as arguments

“It means a lot. It took a lot out of us, but you don’t feel pain at the end of a win,” Tua classified the triumph over the Ravens. Tagovailoa understands the importance of wins in the NFL. They are the yardstick by which quarterbacks are measured when it comes to whether they can sufficiently lead a team.

It seems unrealistic that the Dolphins will make the playoffs this season. Nevertheless, it is now a matter of Tua and Co. not completely throwing the successes and the rebuild from the past two years into the sand. If he gets support from the defence, Tua has now proven several times that he is a signal caller with whom the Dolphins can win games.

However, it is also an open secret that Miami would have preferred to trade for Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans at the trade deadline. If he can solve his problems off the field – which were one reason why the trade fell through – the Dolphins are also considered a hot candidate for the star quarterback in the coming offseason.

For Tua, it is now a matter of proving his abilities as a “winning quarterback” in order to convince the Dolphins managers of himself as a long-term solution. Against the Ravens he managed to put his first important exclamation mark on this.