The Miami Dolphins tumultuous season has seen its share of ups and downs, whether it’s a come-from-behind win in week one, multiple three-game losing streaks, a three-game winning streak, and its latest stop, the embarrassing loss in the tundra to the Green Bay Packers.
There is more than enough blame to share for how the season has unfolded, but the grim reality is that if quarterback Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t get hurt in week two, the Dolphins are likely in the playoffs as of today.
On the Dolphins 5-7 record, Tagovailoa stated, “this comes down to me leaving my team out to dry by putting myself in harms way in week 2.”
As a leader does, the Dolphins quarterback placed the blame on his shoulders. Many would argue that management should shoulder the blame for not having a solid backup option in place with Tagovailoa’s injury history.
This leads me to the hit heard around the world Sunday in the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars game.
In the second quarter, quarterback Trevor Lawrence scrambled for a six-yard gain before sliding, trying to give himself up when Houston safety Azeez Al-Shaair hit Lawrence in the shoulders-to-head area, causing the back of his head to slam on the ground and knock him out cold with his hands up in a “fencing posture” similar to what Tagovailoa has gone through.
The opinions have been split on the hit, with fans and media calling the hit dirty or cheap, with some former defensive players, such as Richard Sherman, who points to how hard it is to stop from full speed or how quarterbacks have manipulated the rules protecting quarterbacks to gain extra yards.
When Tagovailoa was asked about the hit he responded, “That was crazy. He was giving himself up and the defensive came and smoked him….I don’t know the reaction time being a defender and having all the logistics to slow down….he could have launched out of the way to Trevor giving himself up.”
Whether or not the hit was dirty is a debate for another time, but the justification behind it makes it seem that defenders are reluctant to adapt to a quarterback-protective league.
How it concerns Tagovailoa is that one of his points of emphasis for staying healthy is sliding every single time when he scrambles. It seems obvious, and we think about it like it’s a guaranteed no-risk to health type of play, but this hit isn’t a one-of-a-kind occurrence, it’s just something that everyone has forgotten about.
When quarterbacks escape that pocket, defenders view them as running backs. When Tagovailoa takes off, fans should forget “slide” and switch to “get out of bounds.”
A reason defenders have decided against pulling up every time against running quarterbacks is because of the fake slide. The first time I saw it used was by Kenny Pickett in college, but quarterbacks manipulate those types of moves in the NFL weekly, most notably Patrick Mahomes.
Due to the hit on Lawrence, Al-Shaair was suspended for three games. I’d vote for the rest of the year, but I’d rate the suspension length as fair. It’s a hit that needs to be taken out of the game.
A quarterback is the most important and vulnerable player on the field and needs to be protected, but fake slides and tip-toeing the sideline after acting like you’re going out of bounds should also be banned.
This makes it even more imperative the Dolphins invest in a quality backup because even though Tagovailoa plays smart and keeps himself out of harm’s way for the most part by sliding and throwing the ball away. Football is just a bang-bang sport, and you never know who will pull up and who will go in for a kill shot on a slide. Get down early-early, or get out of bounds.
