The Dolphins are back, in the perfect kind of midnight Mountain West–shootout type of way that endeared them to us so many weeks ago, before the franchise slogged through its own version of the pain cave and had to play a handful of weeks without a tenable solution at quarterback.
Tua Tagovailoa is back, too, and not just in the he’s-adequately-managing-this kind of way, but, in a new role that we may be a little unfamiliar seeing him in: franchise quarterback. Count me among those who knew Mike McDaniel’s history as Kyle Shanahan’s secret weapon and envisioned Tagovailoa operating with suddenly heroic powers, but ultimately wondered what the offense would be like if someone more elite was pulling the trigger. A real quarterback, as we might have crudely put it.
Well, on Sunday, Tagovailoa may have had the best statistical game for a quarterback in franchise history. He is the only Dolphins QB ever to have thrown for 350-plus yards, three or more touchdown passes and no interceptions while maintaining a completion percentage of 80% or better. No one is saying he’s better than Dan Marino, we’re just saying Marino has never had this perfect of a 60-minute stretch in his 17-season career.
