Miami Dolphins’ Loss Not Tua’s Fault, Just Ask Him
The Miami Dolphins were thoroughly embarrassed on the road on Sunday by the Indianapolis Colts 33-8. While Daniel Jones was sharp and effective for the Colts, the Dolphins’ quarterback was not. Tua Tagovailoa was 14-23 for 114 yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions. He was also sacked three times for 13 yards.
In case you don’t watch a lot of NFL football, that’s terrible. Especially when your one touchdown pass came with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter while you were already down 30-0.
While Tua did add to his post-game criticism of the team’s offense, “this also goes for me,” he did go ahead and criticize the team’s offense anyway. He didn’t throw anyone under the bus, but this isn’t what Dolphins’ fans wanted to hear following the pasting in Indianapolis.
“I’m definitely curious to see, ‘I came in on Tuesday, I seen these guys on Tuesday last week. I want to see if the same guys are watching film on Tuesday’, I want to see how everyone goes about their process,” Tagovailoa said.
I’ll bet there are plenty of people associated with the Dolphins who would like to see how you go about your process.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel says it’s not all on Tua Tagovailoa
Dolphins’ head coach Mike McDaniel said after the beat down that this game was not all on Tagovailoa. He’s right, but we all know about too much of the credit, too much of the blame. In the case of today’s game? It’s the blame.
“It was something that was left to be desired,” McDaniel said of Tagovailoa’s game. “It’s definitely not all on him. There’s just throws that I know he makes nine times out of 10, and he didn’t make them today. But that being said, it’s hard to play quarterback when you have surprise pressures … or you have people coming out the huddle the wrong way when they had been nailing it for a week-plus.”
It was certainly a team effort, but Tua really needs to find the nearest mirror in the locker room.
“There’s too many people that failed at the execution of their jobs for him to even have any extra on his (Tagovailoa’s) shoulders,” McDaniel said. “I would say that the rest of the team was not good enough to win football games in the National Football League.”
Too many mistakes by the Miami Dolphins today
Tua threw two picks and lost a fumble. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t move the offense at all on Sunday, he was also handing the ball to the Colts every chance he got. McDaniel says the turnovers killed them, but that would kinda sorta be pointing the finger right back at Tua, wouldn’t it?
“When you’re minus-three plus a turnover on downs, you run into the kicker, across the board, that’s not a [winning] formula,” McDaniel said. “That formula is for failure and nothing else. I think there was a lot of preparation for Week 1, and I don’t think it looked it. What does that mean? It means the guys let Week 1 and the bells and whistles of the season starting get the best of them. My job is to prevent that. I did my best, not good enough.”
The Dolphins better figure out something quickly at quarterback. And, it’s going to have to be Tua because the options of Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers behind him will be way worse.
Jaylon Johnson is ready to prove he's more than just potential. The Bears' defense has a new leader, and it's his time to shine against the Vikings
The Chicago Bears have announced their roster elevations for Week 1’s home opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football — and their decisions suggest good news for top cornerback Jaylon Johnson’s availability.
According to the team’s transaction wire, the Bears elevated linebacker Carl Jones Jr. and veteran defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon on Monday afternoon to their game-day roster ahead of their season opener against the Vikings.
The Bears’ roster moves make sense in the context of their injuries. Linebacker T.J. Edwards is doubtful to play against the Vikings with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Austin Booker — whom the team projected as its No. 3 defensive end — is out for the first four games on injured reserve, leaving them shorthanded off the edge.
At the same time, many believed the Bears would elevate a cornerback to their game-day roster instead with both Johnson and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon on the injury report with questionable injury designations. Backup slot cornerback Josh Blackwell is also questionable with a groin injury that has either sidelined or limited him for weeks.
The Bears have just three cornerbacks on their active roster who are not listed on their Week 1 injury report between Tyrique Stevenson, Nahshon Wright and Nick McCloud. Their decision not to call up a cornerback from the practice squad, though, indicates that they expect at least some of their injured contributors to suit up Monday night.
The Bears will kick off against the Vikings at Soldier Field at 8:15 p.m. ET tonight.
Will Bears DE Depth Prove Problematic vs. Vikings?
The Bears have some major questions at defensive end heading into their first game of the 2025 season, from their hand-picked starters to the depth situated behind them.
At the top of the depth chart, the Bears are trusting the veteran duo of Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo as the primary edge-rushing cogs in new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense, but there are reasons for skepticism with both starters.
Sweat is coming off a disappointing 5.5-sack season for the Bears in 2024, during which he also dealt with injuries. Chicago will be happy to have him if he can produce similar to his 2023 numbers (a career-high 12.5 sacks and 72 pressures), but they need to see a bounce back from their $98 million pass rusher in 2025 — or else reconsider the plan.
On the other side, Odeyingbo has much to prove. He had 13 sacks between the 2022 and 2023 seasons as a rotational pass rusher for the Indianapolis Colts, but he did not have as much success as a 14-game starter for them in 2024, recording just three total.
The Bears also cannot purely rely on their starters even if both pan out. They need at least one additional pass rusher who can rotate in with Sweat and Odeyingbo to keep the unit fresh and effective. And heading into Monday night, that role is undefined between the three options of Dominique Robinson, Daniel Hardy and Kpassagnon.
That’s a lot of maybe for the Bears, and it could bite them against the Vikings.
Noah Sewell & Ruben Hyppolite in Line for Big Roles
With their pregame roster moves, the Bears have also tipped their cap toward another likelihood about Monday night’s game: that Edwards will be inactive versus the Vikings.
Edwards not playing already seemed like the most probable outcome, as he missed the full week of practice with his hamstring injury and was listed as doubtful on the injury report. Jones’ elevation, though, all but assures he will sit in the team’s season opener.
Make no mistake, though: the Bears will ask Noah Sewell and rookie Ruben Hyppolite II to pick up the majority of Edwards’ slack against the Vikings under the lights.
Hyppolite and Sewell spent camp competing with each other for the strongside role that Jack Sanborn left behind when he departed in 2025 free agency. While the Bears only list two linebackers on their official depth chart — and, therefore, have been mum about the winner of that battle — it is now likely both will see significant action on Monday.
The Bears will also have Jones and D’Marco Jackson — whom they claimed off waivers after 53-man roster cuts — available for depth, but they are more likely to see action on special teams to free up Sewell and Hyppolite for more prominent roles on defense.
