Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel defends Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins offense: ‘Hard work and unbelievable ability’

Mike McDaniel is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. And he’s taking exception to questions about whether Tua Tagovailoa is piling up the stats because of his system and not his ability.

Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing and the Dolphins offense is on track to shatter league records. There’s even the catchy nickname, aka the Greatest Show on Surf.

As Miami prepares for a road date against the Eagles, a reporter asked McDaniel whether it matters if Tua Tagovailoa is throwing the passes. In other words, maybe any upright QB could amass similar numbers. It’s the scheme rather than the talent. Air raid quarterbacks in college have heard this for years. Now the questions have hit the NFL.

“I’m about to push this podium over,” McDaniel said at his weekly press conference. “My answer to that would be who the F cares? Because it is a team, we’re working together. And I know one thing: I’ve coached a long time, I haven’t seen people do what our guys do. As a teammate we’re all dependent on each other, and I’m not in any hurry to prove myself without those guys because they’re part of who we are.

“To try to say it’s this person or that person is missing the point,” the coach said. “It’s a team working together, people working together. Myself, Tyreek Hill, Tua, cool. What if no one’s blocking? You know what I mean? We’re all connected in that way.”

McDaniel then pointed out that his plays and system have been around for a while.

“Our players run a lot of plays that I have a lot of history with, and it looks different,” McDaniel said. “That’s because of hard work and unbelievable ability. So don’t try me on other players.”

Tagovailoa is leading the league in total yards with 1876. And his yards per attempt is an incredible 9.5. Meanwhile, the Dolphins are averaging 498.7 yards per game to top the NFL. The Eagles are second, 102 yards behind Miami.

Whether it’s scheme or ability or a good mix of both, the Dolphins are 5-1. And the last time they started the season with this kind of record was 21 years ago. (For context, McDaniel was a freshman receiver at Yale. Tua Tagovailoa was four and living with his parents in Hawaii).

Meanwhile, Tagovailoa is on track to break Peyton Manning’s single-season NFL record for passing yards. Manning threw for 5,477 yards in 16 games in 2013. Tagovailoa (and the rest of the league quarterbacks) now have the luxury of a 17th game to pad their season stats.

The Eagles-Dolphins will be played in front of a national audience for Sunday Night Football. There’s a ton of interest. And NBC already is picking up the Alabama connection. After all, Tua Tagovailoa, who was then a true freshman, replaced Jalen Hurts at halftime of the national championship game back in January, 2018. Tua threw the game-winning touchdown to lead the Tide to a national title. And he kept the starting job the next season, with Hurts eventually transferring to Oklahoma.

There are a dozen Alabama players, total, on the combined Eagles-Dolphins rosters. After the game, maybe we’ll know more if it’s Tua Tagovailoa or the system. Or maybe McDaniel will toss a podium. Stay tuned.