3 Miami Dolphins who should be benched after Thursday Night Football’s Debacle

Thursday night was a potentially epoch-changing four quarters of football for Mike McDaniel’s Miami Dolphins. Two years after Tua Tagovailoa first went into the fencing position on Thursday Night Football, he appeared to suffer familiar visible symptoms after crashing into safety Damar Hamlin during a scramble up the middle.

Nothing about Hamlin’s routine tackle suggested that Tagovailoa would suffer any ill effects which makes his career outlook even more concerning. If Tagovailoa collided with a knee or made helmet-to-helmet contact, you could understand his presence in concussion protocol. The human brain doesn’t get to heal once it’s been damaged and nobody wants to watch Tagovailoa endure long-term consequences. 

Tua Tagovailoa should be benched for the seaosn

The bench beckons for Tua Tagovailoa. Not because he isn’t worthy of being a franchise quarterback or because he perpetually comes up short against the Bills. Don’t be surprised if Tagovailoa gets shut down for the season or steps away.

There is plenty of blame to go around for what happened on Thursday night. Hindsight is 20/20, but you've got to question the decision for Tagovailoa not to wear a Guardian Cap given his history. A handful of Indianapolis Colts and a smattering of players wore the padded helmets, during the preseason, but the helmets touted for reducing concussions have begun collecting dust in the regular season because of the aesthetics since they were approved for regular season game use this season. 

Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, but if Tagovailoa does appear in a Dolphins uniform it needs to be in the most cutting edge concussion prevention helmet available. On the other hand, appearing in a special helmet, would only draw more attention to the fact that he should not be out there for the sake of his own long-term personal health. 

From a purely football perspective, this Dolphins team doesn’t measure up. Even before his injury, Tagovailoa was more Jimmy Olsen to Josh Allen’s Superman. Allen has shown he is capable of overcoming Buffalo's depleted receiving corps and threw an absolute dime on the run to running back Ty Johnson while scrambling to his right. 

The only thing you could nitpick about his Mahomesian play was that if he had led Johnson instead of throwing behind him, that picturesque spiral would’ve credited him (and his fantasy owners) a touchdown score. 

Conversely, Tagovailoa threw a pair of first half picks, and opened the second half with a costly pick-six while intending to throw it away under duress. Tagovailoa however couldn’t get enough mustard on the throw to reach the sidelines. When the no-look pitches or motion bells and whistles weren’t working, he wasn’t able to manifest chunk plays for the offense when they needed it.

Miami’s interior offensive line

Miami is still ineffective in short-yardage situations.

Miami’s zone-blocking scheme is all about misdirection and creating leverage for ball carriers and blockers through pre-snap movement. But when everyone knows a rugby play is about to happen between the gaps, the Dolphins flag football personnel can’t compute. On multiple 3rd or 4th-and-short situations, Buffalo’s defensive line blotted out the sky and left Miami stumbling blindly in a pitch-black gridiron. On the ensuing 4th-and-short play after fullback Alec Ingold was unable to rumble forward on the 3rd down, left guard Robert Jones was treated like more of a nuisance by Ed Oliver en route to Tagovailoa in the pocket. 

On the play prior to Tagovailoa’s concussion, 180-pound scatback De’Von Achane was unable to pick up the yards needed for a first and even lost a yard. Some things never change. These Dolphins never beefed up their thin offensive line, and in fact, got worse. 

Linebackers Jordyn Brooks and David Long Jr.

As predicted on Thursday, the Dolphins' run defense was pancaked by Buffalo’s run blocking and served with poached eggs. James Cook’s second touchdown run of the game, on a 49-yard scamper from midfield, put the Dolphins linebackers under a microscope. Jordyn Brooks and David Long took themselves out of the play on Cook’s long touchdown and on his touchdown reception, Brooks stumbled butting on the backfield motion and fell flat on his face.

Buffalo was just too physically imposing. This was the second week in a row in which Miami resembled a peewee team in a tackle drill. What good is it having Jalen Ramsey defending the air if opposing offenses can take a road trip into the end zone? The final box score tallies reflect a modest day for Buffalo on the ground but that is because this game was over by halftime.