Current:Home > NewsTua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run -Ascend Finance Compass
Tua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run
View
Date:2025-04-12 18:58:37
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins (3-6) overcame a sloppy first half and held on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams (4-5), 23-15, to keep their playoff chances alive.
The win snapped Miami’s three-game losing streak. Additionally, it was Tagovailoa’s first victory since returning from injured reserve in Week 8. The Dolphins quarterback is 1-2 since coming off IR due to a concussion.
“It was an earned win. Very proud of the team,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “We knew we lost a couple games that we could have had. You can use that in one of two ways: to make you worse or can make you better. So, I think I was very happy with the way the guys have persevered, stayed together, came across the country and found a way to get a win.”
Tagovailoa finished with 207 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. His performance was up-and-down, especially in the first half. He tossed an interception in the second quarter and then lost a fumble on Miami’s very next series. On Tagovailoa’s interception, he went in to tackle Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom and hit his head on Rozeboom’s knee on the attempt.
“I feel good. Everything's good,” Tagovailoa said postgame. “I wasn't planning on using my head. … That was pretty bad tackling form.”
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Tagovailoa’s tackling technique was bad. But Tagovailoa’s decision to lead with his head was worse given his concussion history. Concussions have become a concerning trend during Tagovailoa’s five-year NFL career, in which he’s been diagnosed with a concussion three times. He missed four games this year after he was concussed in Week 2.
Yet, Tagovailoa’s poor tackling form as well as his desire to keep competing despite all the outside noise and vast opinions about his career are reflections of his confidence.
“My confidence level from the time I came back against the Cardinals had never wavered from the first game I played against the Jaguars,” Tagovailoa said. “I think when you're playing, when you're out there, the game is too fast for you to think of anything else. And if you start thinking of anything else, it's hard for you to focus on your job. So go out there play football.”
With Tagovailoa on the field and playing with confidence, the Dolphins have a chance to make a playoff push following a 2-6 start.
The Dolphins have very winnable games the next few weeks against the Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots on their schedule. The competition gets more difficult after Week 12 with contests versus the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers on the calendar.
DO YOU LIKE FOOTBALL? Then you'll enjoy getting our NFL newsletter delivered to your inbox
The (8-2) Buffalo Bills’ four-game lead (plus the tiebreaker) in the AFC East is probably too much ground for Miami to make up. Although, a wild-card berth is still within reach as the Denver Broncos (5-5) currently hold the seventh and final wild-card spot in the AFC.
“Football is a game of momentum,” Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. “I think that this is the kind of game that you can use to spark a run. But obviously it doesn't mean anything if you don’t win the next one.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
veryGood! (72)
Related
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- How to watch or stream the 2024 Rose Bowl Parade on New Year's Day
- Man wielding 2 knives shot and wounded by Baltimore police, officials say
- Consulting firm McKinsey agrees to $78 million settlement with insurers over opioids
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- Former Ugandan steeplechase Olympian Benjamin Kiplagat found fatally stabbed in Kenya
- Gloria Trevi says she was a 'prisoner' of former manager Sergio Andrade in new lawsuit
- Laws banning semi-automatic weapons and library censorship to take effect in Illinois
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Concerned about Michigan stealing signs? What Nick Saban said before Rose Bowl
Ranking
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Reports: Former cycling world champ Dennis charged after Olympian wife struck, killed by vehicle
- Your 2024 guide to NYC New Year's Eve ball drop countdown in Times Square
- Israel is pulling thousands of troops from Gaza as combat focuses on enclave’s main southern city
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- In Iowa, Nikki Haley flubs Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark's name
- Laws banning semi-automatic weapons and library censorship to take effect in Illinois
- North Korea’s Kim orders military to ‘thoroughly annihilate’ US, South Korea if provoked
Recommendation
Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
High surf advisories remain in some parts of California, as ocean conditions begin to calm
Our 2024 pop culture resolutions
122 fishermen rescued after getting stranded on Minnesota ice floe, officials say
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
UN chief closes tribunal founded to investigate 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
Penn State defense overwhelmed by Ole Miss tempo and ‘too many moving parts’ in Peach Bowl loss
Taliban say security forces killed dozens of Tajiks, Pakistanis involved in attacks in Afghanistan