A year after the Chargers derailed the Tua Express, the Dolphins and their young head coach, Mike McDaniel, unleashed version 2.0 of their offense, and my oh my, is it sexy.
The Fins went for 536 yards and put 36 points on LA, securing an impressive opening-day win on the West Coast. Their quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, was a part point guard, part home run hitter (yes, I know I crossed sports, but it’s my story, and I’ll do what I want). Per Pro Football Focus, Tua averaged 2.5 seconds to throw Sunday, 6th quickest in the NFL (Mac Jones was third at 2.38).
But when he had to take his shots, the 4th year pro did just that. He may have saved his best for last - or close to it - stepping up in the pocket to escape pressure and hitting Tyreek Hill for a 47-yarder down the right sideline. That big play came with under four minutes to play in a game that the Dolphins were losing at the time, 34-30.
“That’s really cool stuff from a developing quarterback that is finding his own footing in how he plays because he went through his progression, felt the pressure in a good interior pocket, utilized that, and then did something that most people can’t do with their writing hand let alone their non-writing hand like he does it,” said McDaniel, who has put his touches on the “Shanahan system” (which you’ll see in my film study below).
Five plays later, Tua dropped one into Hill for a 4-yard TD, putting Miami ahead for good. Considering this was the signal caller’s first game since suffering a season-ending concussion nine months ago, the Fins believe this was the first step in a season of significant growth for the player and the offense he runs.
“He definitely has that mindset of going out there and getting it and being dominant,” said RB Raheem Mostert earlier this week. “He’s a guy that puts a lot on his shoulders, but at the same time he can handle it. You see what he’s doing out there, and it’s just amazing. I mean, to go from Year 1 to Year 2 in the way that he’s doing it, he had a good start at the beginning of the year last year, but yesterday was an even better start. You can only grow from there.”
Having Hill to grow with - along with Jaylen Waddle - is an excellent place to start, especially with Hill saying he, too, is finding a higher level because he knows the offense. Like, he really knows it.
“Oh man, like everything is more fluid this year,” admitted Hill. “Because last year, I was just banking on my speed and just banking on me just outrunning guys. But this year, I was in my bag a little bit more on release moves and just routes at the top and stuff like that. That’s how I was able to get my first catch; I had a dagger. Last year, we ran the same exact route, and I wasn’t open. But this year, it’s a whole lot different because I know how to run it, and I know exactly how many steps I need to be at and stuff like that. So yeah, everything was different.”
So, what were some of the differences? And are there still some issues that the Patriots can take advantage of? Here are several examples of what I saw watching the film.