The Miami Dolphins made the right decision to make Tua Tagovailoa their starting quarterback coming out of their bye week, winning three consecutive games and sitting a half a game out of first place in the AFC East as a result. Tagovailoa has done his part in his three starts, 62.7% of his passes for 510 yards with five touchdown passes and no interceptions.
In Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Tagovailoa finished 15 of 25 for 169 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating of 106.9 was the second consecutive game Tagovailoa finished with a 100-plus passer rating.
The secret behind Tagovailoa's success is the preparation the Dolphins have during the week, giving him all the opportunity to execute when he gets on the field. Tagovailoa even told Pro Football Talk a surprising revelation about the NFL and his development after just three games.
"I expected it to be a lot harder," Tagovailoa said. "Not that it's not hard."
The Dolphins have prepared Tagovailoa well through three games, leading to instant success in the league. Tagovailoa gave credit to offensive coordinator Chan Gailey after Sunday's win, along with his teammates for making the transition to starter easier than even he expected.
"I would say I'm comfortable, but a lot of that starts from practice," Tagovailoa said. "Just being able to talk with our center, Ted (Karras), on Thursdays, going over our protections, just being able to talk to the O-line about what I'm thinking and then hearing from them what they're thinking, talking to the receivers, what we're thinking, and just kind of a combined thought process for all of us together to all kind of be on the same page.
"I think that's where, you know, probably not just me, but everyone feels most comfortable is, it starts from practice and then it translates to the game."
Tagovailoa is the first Dolphins quarterback to win his first three starts since Damon Huard in 1999. His performance Sunday didn't match up to his Week 9 numbers against the Arizona Cardinals (248 yards, two touchdowns; 7 carries, 35 yards), but he was efficient in the victory. That's all the Dolphins can ask for as Tagovailoa continues to gain more confidence.
"We're trying to put guys defensively in a bind to where we can take advantage of them," Tagovailoa said. "I think up to this point, we got to continue to execute on those things, but it's still a work in progress, so we'll continue to look at the film when it comes time tomorrow and continue to grow from there."
