A Look Back at Some of Tua’s Best Moments

The Tua Tagovailoa era in Miami is soon coming to an end. It was a run that provided fans with highs not seen in decades and lows to match. For what it’s worth, as a younger fan who only began watching football in 2002, Tua is the best quarterback I’ve seen start for the Dolphins.

Unfortunately, that’s a little like saying someone is the healthiest person in the ICU. 

It seems that other teams are not too interested in Tua’s services, or at least not interested in paying for his massive contract. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported on the struggles. 

“One high-ranking team executive told CBS Sports he had considered taking on Tagovailoa if the Dolphins would send a first-round pick to take on the freight of his contract.” He wrote. “It is the type of deal the NFL frowns upon and something that has only been done at that level with Brock Osweiler.

The odds have been overwhelmingly in favor of the Dolphins exercising Tagovailoa’s 2026 option at some point 10 days after the start of the league year and then releasing him as a post-June 1 designation. That will spread the $99 million dead cap hit over two seasons and make Tagovailoa free to sign somewhere on the veteran minimum.” 

Needless to say, things are not where the team expected them to be when they initially signed Tua to his massive contract extension. I want to write about some better times, moments that made fans believe we had finally found the man after Dan Marino. 

The first game I would like to bring up is the 21-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills on September 25th, 2022. It was the first year under Mike McDaniel, and the Bills had established themselves as the new kings of the AFC East.

In many ways, it was a game in which the Dolphins were set to prove they were a team ready to take the next step and become an actual contender. The best moment of the game was when Tua found Jaylen Waddle on 3rd and 22 with Miami trailing 17-14. This set up the first, the goal, and the eventual go-ahead score. It really felt like the Dolphins were going to be a true competitor to the Bills after this victory. 

The next moment I want to highlight is the Christmas Eve victory over the Dallas Cowboys that allowed Miami to clinch a playoff spot. While the Dolphins did make the playoffs the previous year it felt like they never truly had a chance at a championship with Tua out with concussions. The 22-20 victory, capped off by a 29-yard Jason Sanders field goal, was a wonderful Christmas present. Tua outdueled Dak Prescott with a stat line of 293 yards and a touchdown. The rest of the season went poorly, but that night, Dolphins fans were on top of the world. 

Finally, my absolute favorite moment during Tua’s run has to be the 42-38 comeback victory over the Ravens on September 18th, 2022. At halftime with the score 28-7, I honestly had lost faith in Tua. I was ready to agree with all of the detractors and admit I was wrong.

Then the Dolphins scored 35 points in the second half, Tua threw for 469 yards and 6 touchdowns, including the game-winner to Jaylen Waddle with 14 seconds left. This game kept me from writing off Tua for a couple of years. It was a moment that made me believe that we had truly found a franchise quarterback and remains one of my favorite moments as a Dolphins fan. 

Regardless of how Tua’s stint with the Dolphins ends, and right now it is looking like he will be released, we’ll always have these moments to remember fondly. What are some of your favorite Tua moments? Let me know in the comments.

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