Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has played well for much of this season, and his game has grown leaps and bounds beyond what he showed in his first two seasons.
But lately, he has struggled, and those struggles continued on Sunday when he threw three interceptions in a loss to the Green Bay Packers, leading Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe to hit him with some harsh criticism.
Tua was a landfill in the 2nd half. That’s where they take all the 🗑️. GEEZ. JUST AWFUL
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) December 25, 2022
Miami got out to a 20-13 halftime lead, but Aaron Rodgers and company fought back with the help of Tagovailoa’s three picks. All three interceptions came in the fourth quarter.
Rodgers didn’t have a great game himself, as he went 24 of 38 and threw one pick, but he did enough to give his Packers a 26-20 victory. After starting the season 4-8, they have now won three in a row, and as a result, they’re in the hunt for the final wild card playoff spot in the NFC.
Miami, meanwhile, is now 8-7, and although it is still in seventh place for the final playoff spot in the AFC, it still has a very small margin of error moving forward.
It will visit the New England Patriots, who are right behind it in the standings at 7-8, on New Year’s Day before wrapping up the regular season at home versus New York Jets.
Tagovailoa had been doing a good job of limiting his interceptions throughout the season, as he had just five prior to Sunday. But this was yet another game of late in which he didn’t play up to his ability.
In Week 13 versus the San Francisco 49ers, he threw two picks and went just 18 of 33 in a 33-17 loss, and the following week, he was a very poor 10 of 28 as the Dolphins lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, 23-17.
Tagovailoa was left off the Pro Bowl roster a few days ago, and critics will no doubt point to games such as those or Sunday’s game as reasons why he didn’t deserve to make the team.
