On Sunday, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa impressed fans across the NFL with an incredible performance in his team’s comeback win against the Baltimore Ravens.
Tagovailoa dominated in the game, finishing with an incredible 469 passing yards and six touchdowns through the air. To make things more impressive, he completed 72.0 percent of his passes.
If a young quarterback like Josh Allen, Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow achieved such heights, sports pundits across the country would use it as clear proof that he was taking the next step and well on his way to becoming the best passer in the league.
In the case of Tagovailoa, however, the monstrous game has come with quite a bit of doubt. Stephen A. Smith went on a bit of a tirade on Monday morning trying to explain how and why Tagovailoa’s mastery on Sunday wasn’t actually all that impressive.
“I love me some Tua,” he began. “But he hasn’t proven that yet. Now, yesterday he was sensational. It was something special to watch. I would like to remind you that the Baltimore Ravens are a catastrophe. Let me look into this camera and say it. The Baltimore Ravens should be ashamed of themselves. You are an embarrassment to the legacy of previous Baltimore Ravens defense.”
It’s a classic case of Smith not giving credit where credit is so obviously due. While the Ravens defense did suffer some lapses in the second half of Sunday’s game, there is no question that Tagovailoa took advantage of opportunities on the field and deserves a lot of credit for leading his team to victory.
To put things into perspective, Tagovailoa is now in a three-way tie for most touchdown passes in a single game in franchise history. He’s now also fourth all-time when it comes to most passing yards in a single game in team history thanks to his 469 passing yards on Sunday.
Tua's 6 Touchdowns against the Ravens today tie Dan Marino and Bob Griese for most Touchdown passes in a game in Dolphins history.
Tua also becomes the second youngest player since 1950 to throw for at least 450 pass yards and 6 TDs, behind only Patrick Mahomes. pic.twitter.com/xeQxfCDMs9
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 18, 2022
So, while Tagovailoa certainly benefited from a poor second-half performance from the Ravens defense, putting the entire outcome of the game on that unit is just a small portion of the story.
The reality of the situation is that Tagovailoa still has a large number of doubters across the league despite the growing proof that he has what it takes to be a franchise guy.
He’ll simply have to keep proving those doubters wrong until there are none left. Up next, he’ll take on Allen and the Buffalo Bills in Week 3.
