Getty Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was questioned on social media after the loss.
The Miami Dolphins were eliminated from the 2024 NFL Playoffs, and a lot of the blame has been directed at quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on social media.
As fans and media members piled on Tagovailoa after the 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, one viral post stood out on X. It was sent by nine-year NFL wide receiver and current San Francisco 49er Willie Snead, and boy was it ruthless.
“The Dolphins will be good when Tua stop acting soft AF 💯,” Snead voiced to the tune of 10K likes and counting.
Similarly, television and radio host Colin Cowherd drummed up 5.6K likes and counting for the following message: “Tua is small. Has an injury history. Average arm. Not super athletic. And can only play in ideal conditions. 🤷🏼♂️ sorry to wrap the Dolphin fan boys into a pretzel but…”
Cowherd has doubted Miami publicly for most of the 2023 campaign.
Ex-Chiefs Champ Says Dolphins in ‘Tough Spot’ With Tua Tagovailoa
Many spoke candidly on Tagovailoa after this fateful Arrowhead outing — where the Dolphins quarterback finished with just 199 passing yards, a 51.28% completion rate, one touchdown and one interception (ESPN passer rating of 63.9).
One opinion came courtesy of former Chiefs Super Bowl champion right tackle Mitchell Schwartz — a former teammate of Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith.
“Miami’s in a tough spot with Tua,” Schwartz said. “Can build a good team around him when cheap but ceiling is limited unless everything goes right. Do you risk that on a longer deal? Years 1-2 on an extension are manageable but past that numbers balloon and I would not commit to that long term.”
The popular ‘NFL Rookie Watch’ agreed on X, arguing that “Tua Tagovailoa has proved once again that he CANNOT win when it matters most.”
“Tagovailoa against teams with a winning record this season: 1-6. Tagovailoa against teams with a losing record this season: 10-1,” Bradon Deacon of NFL Rookie Watch went on. “Tagovailoa may have led the league in passing yards (4,624) and was 5th in passing TD’s (29), but what does it matter. And now the Dolphins are going to have to decide whether or not to give him the BANK.”
Tagovailoa’s cap hit jumps to over $23.17 million in 2024. From there, Miami would either have to franchise tag the QB or extend him.
NFL & Dolphins Fans React to Tua Tagovailoa’s Performance vs. Chiefs
Many fans weighed in on this topic after viral posts like Snead’s, Cowherd’s and Schwartz’s.
“Switch Mahomes and Tua on their teams and the Dolphins are winning right now,” one commented.
Another expressed that Miami head coach “Mike McDaniel clearly agrees with [these Tagovailoa takes] with his play calls,” alluding to a lack of trust.
“I don’t think of [Tagovailoa] as anything other than above average qb when he has Tyreek [Hill],” a third fan stated. “Take him away and he’s simply an unathletic qb with low arm strength that can’t elevate the offense.”
And a fourth noted that “we’ve seen his best and it isn’t good enough even with a STACKED roster.”
Finally, one user seemed to fault McDaniel more than Tagovailoa.
“[To be honest], arm strength doesn’t matter in these conditions,” they wrote. “Majority of Mahomes’ passes are around the 10 yard mark. Tua is attempting targets on average around 16 yards. Tua also keeps playing in shotgun, which prevents any sort of play action passing attack. It’s just bad play calling.”
Tagovailoa should still be the starting quarterback in 2024. After that, things could get dicey if he continues to come up small in big moments.