Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had one of his worst performances of the season in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers, throwing an interception for the first time since September.
While Tagovailoa tossed a 75-yard touchdown on the first play, the 49ers’ vaunted defense tightened up for much of the rest of the contest. Tagovailoa completed a season-low 55 percent of his passes. He had multiple interceptions for only the second time in 2022 — the other game being his six-touchdown performance in the week Two victory over Baltimore. And Tagovailoa had a lost fumble for the first time this season.
Tagovailoa missed receivers throughout the contest with off-target passes. After the game, head coach Mike McDaniel noted it was an uncharacteristic day for Miami’s quarterback.
“We’re pretty used to Tua being extremely accurate,” McDaniel said in his press conference. “I know there was a couple times that he’s going to be pretty hard on himself, but at the same time, you should be able to not be pinpoint accurate on one or two throws and still be able to execute and operate.
“I think that the guys were a little off just in general collectively, but I know one thing, it wasn’t because of preparation. It wasn’t because of lack of detail. It was one of those things that you have to go through.”
McDaniel added that he wanted the Dolphins to feel a playoff-type atmosphere from the 49ers and thinks his club should be better from it.
“[A]t some point in time, you have to have everything on the line and you have to be able to execute,” McDaniel said. “So players, myself, the whole team really, the idea is to lay it all out on the line for each other and then deal with the consequences. So as frustrating as it was, I think that we are well-equipped and we have the guys in the locker room that collectively will take this piece of adversity and get better from it, and that’s the objective.”
The Dolphins will stay on the West Coast before taking on the Chargers in Los Angeles for Sunday Night Football in Week 14. Tagovailoa and the offense could look a lot different against an L.A. team that is 26th in yards allowed and 30th in points allowed.