Tua Tagovailoa shoulders blame after poor outing at San Francisco | Schad

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — All the attention entering Dolphins at 49ers on Sunday was focused on Mike McDaniel vs. Kyle Shanahan.

It turned out to become an unlikely battle between Tua Tagovailoa and the 262nd pick in the last NFL Draft, Brock Purdy.

And Purdy, the very last pick of the last NFL draft, an Iowa State quarterback you probably never heard of before Jimmy Garoppolo suffered yet another season-ending injury, won the duel.

It was 49ers 33, Dolphins 17, and it's not just that the road team couldn't pull an upset.

It's that this was a golden missed opportunity.

"It should hurt," McDaniel said.

To his credit, Tagovailoa shouldered any and all responsibility.

Yes, Tua completed a 75-yard touchdown to Trent Sherfield on the first Dolphins offensive play of the game.

Yes, Tua completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill in the fourth quarter.

But it was, overall, Tua's worst performance of the season.

"I missed guys," Tua said. "There is also some miscommunication of where guys should be breaking and cutting. But a poor performance on my part."

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Tua had two interceptions, one fumble and 15 incompletions.

He just seemed off. Something seemed off.

"We didn’t execute and there is nobody to blame but myself," Tua said.

At least the Dolphins don't have a Zach Wilson problem.

If anything, Tua is too hard on himself.

Tua has posted back-to-back sub-par games

But after three lights-out performances against Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland, it wasn't quite as good against Houston and it wasn't good at all against San Francisco.

We can't blame the rain. It didn't rain. We can't blame the cold. It was about 59 degrees at kickoff.

"We are pretty used to Tua being extremely accurate," McDaniel said. "He’ll be pretty hard on himself. Guys were a little off in general, collectively."

It will be very important that Tua does not have another poor outing at the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday. It will be very important that Tua not be dramatically out-performed by Justin Herbert, once drafted one spot behind Tua.

Nobody will forget that. One day folks may well forget it was a guy named Brock Purdy who edged Tua in the Bay, but it was. To his credit, Tagovailoa credited Purdy as did McDaniel, who noted Purdy and Skylar Thompson had two of the best preseasons in the NFL.

"I know the 49ers staff has a lot of confidence in Brock," said McDaniel, who would know, as he worked with Shanahan for 14 years, including the last five here in Northern California.

Tua said he felt McDaniel showed confidence in him by going for it on 4th-and-1 from Miami's 19 in the fourth quarter, down only 6 points. It was, as Tyreek Hill would say, a "wheelbarrow" gutsy call.

Tua completed the pass to Hill and it seemed to spark things until they stalled with a failed fourth-down conversion to Mike Gesicki later in the drive.

Tua cited miscommunication with receivers, which is disappointing considering we are in the final stages of this season. But he simply misfired too often on Sunday, usually high.

Tua said he wasn't emotionally charged entering what is essentially playoff season. But Miami will need Tua to be better in the final five games of its playoff push.

Is the health of Tua's ankle or ankles a concern? Well, this is worth monitoring.

All week Tua practiced but was listed as having an ankle injury and then at the end of Sunday's game, when pulled for Thompson, Miami cited an ankle injury as the reason.

Tua said Miami will assess the ankle. Hopefully it's not hindering his mechanics.

Quick passes in Dolphins' game plan with ailing offensive line

On Sunday, the game plan was to get rid of the ball quickly, with Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson, bookend tackles, sidelined due to injury. But Miami's offensive line seemed to do OK, so there really wasn't any huge reason to be overly skittish.

Tagovailoa was having an MVP-type season and there's no reason to think Miami's confidence will waver. But the final chapter of this season has not been written.

How Tua plays, especially in road games at the Chargers, Bills and Patriots, will largely define his season. It will also have a great impact on how fans, media and the organization view Tua.

Tua has been great on third downs all season. But the Dolphins were 0-for-7 against the NFL's top defense on Sunday.

Tua has been great in fourth quarters all season. But in this fourth quarter, he fumbled when Nick Bosa hit his arm while attempting to pass. The resulting defensive score truly sealed Miami's fate.

Could Miami's defense have done a bit more to help lift the Dolphins on this Sunday?

Well, yes.

The Dolphins did hold the 49ers to four field goals. And they forced four punts.

But what Miami probably laments even more than allowing two touchdown passes to the 262nd pick is forcing only one turnover. This is even though they tried to pressure and confuse the rookie.

That one turnover came on Xavien Howard's first interception of the season. On that long pass attempt on fourth down, a knockdown may have been even more advisable. But Miami, and X, need any turnovers they can get.

It will be essential that Tua not allow all the positives of this season slip away on a 2-game road swing in California. Tua really did beat himself up in a post-game press conference.

"Don't think we're going to take this lightly," Tua said.

It wasn't exactly as passionate or emotional as Tim Tebow's legendary "Promise" speech after a loss to Ole Miss 14 years ago, but it rang true.

This Tua is extremely focused on doing anything and everything required to reach his potential and to help the Dolphins reach their potential this season.

Sunday wasn't it.

Joe Schad is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa struggles in loss to 49ers