Tua Tagovailoa is 2-0 as an NFL starting quarterback, and for his second victory, the former Alabama All-American earned his share of the credit.
On Nov. 1, Tagovailoa completed 12-of-22 passes for 93 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in the Miami Dolphins’ 28-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. The Dolphins defense came up with four takeaways and a touchdown and Miami scored a TD on a punt return against Los Angeles.
On Sunday, Tagovailoa completed 20-of-28 passes for 248 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran seven times for 35 yards in a 34-31 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
“He made a lot of big plays for us, especially down the stretch when we needed it,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “It was kind of a back-and-forth game. They made plays; we made plays. The stage wasn’t too big for him tonight. He played well, but we had a lot guys play well – the offensive line, backs, tight ends. Everyone contributed. It was a team victory. We made plays really on all three sides of the ball, and that’s what you need to win a game like that against an opponent like that.”
Tagovailoa threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Preston Williams with 10:18 left in the first half as the Dolphins took a 21-14 lead with an eight-play, 80-yard drive.
Tagovailoa threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mack Hollins with 11:19 left to play as Miami tied the score 31-31, the fourth time the score had been tied. The Dolphins moved 93 yards in 10 plays to get the tying TD.
On the play before the touchdown pass, Tagovailoa had a 17-yard scramble, and earlier in the drive, he had run for 6 yards on a third-and-4 snap from the Miami 28-yard line.
Tagovailoa’s second NFL start came eight days short of the one-year anniversary of his final game at Alabama, when he suffered a dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture during an SEC game against Mississippi State.
“I think the Dolphins organization with (trainer) Kyle Johnson and everyone from the medical staff,” Tagovailoa said, “if they felt that they would be putting me in a bad situation if I have to go and make a play on the run and whatnot, I don’t think they’d let me go out there and play. Knowing that that’s how it was going to be, even myself, I had self-confidence that I’d be able to go out there and if I needed to make a play with my legs, I would. But that was probably the slowest I ever felt. Oh my goodness, I felt like I was running in quicksand.”
With the score tied 31-31, Tagovailoa had completions of 19 and 9 yards before Jason Sanders kicked a 50-yard field goal with 3:30 remaining in the game.
“I think the biggest thing throughout the game was taking what the defense gave us,” Tagovailoa said. “And just taking it a play at a time, a snap at a time.”
Arizona’s Zane Gonzalez missed a 49-yard field-goal attempt with 1:53 to play, and Miami ran out the clock, with Tagovailoa converting a third-and-1 snap on a quarterback sneak with 50 seconds to play.
The Dolphins won despite the efforts of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, the only player who finished ahead of Tagovailoa in the 2018 Heisman Trophy voting. Murray completed 21-of-26 passes for 283 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 106 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. He became the first player in NFL history to lose a game while producing a passing-efficiency rating greater than 150 on at least 25 passes. Murray also became the first NFL player to reach those passing and rushing yardage totals and run and throw for touchdowns in the same game.
TUA TAGOVAILOA AND KYLER MURRAY: ‘NOTHING BUT GOOD TIMES’
“That was awesome,” Tagovailoa said. “I think it was fun for the fans as well, not just us competing. But I think with that, too, you know what you’re going to get when it comes to Kyler. You’re going to get big plays on their side of the ball. … I think he might be the fastest quarterback in the NFL right now.”
With their first four-game winning streak since the 2016 season, the Dolphins improved to 5-3. Miami hosts the Los Angeles Chargers at 3:25 p.m. CST Nov. 15 in its next game.
“I would say it was a lot better from the Rams game,” Tagovailoa said. “But we’re going to enjoy it and come in Monday, or tomorrow we’ll probably watch film with one another. We’ll see what we can learn from and continue to work.”
Tagovailoa became the 25th quarterback in NFL history with at least 248 passing yards and two TD passes with no interceptions in his second NFL start. The list starts with the Minnesota Vikings’ Bob Lee in 1970 and most recently added the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow on Sept. 17.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.