Dolphins’ Week 1 disaster ‘definitely not all on’ Tua Tagovailoa despite two interceptions, Mike McDaniel says

The Miami Dolphins floundered in the NFL’s most lopsided loss of Week 1, going scoreless into the fourth quarter of a 33-8 trouncing at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts. Neither side of the ball was effective, but the offense was particularly putrid, and Tua Tagovailoa struggled mightily with his two interceptions. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stopped short of placing blame on his quarterback, though, and emphasized that Tagovailoa did not get enough help around him.

Tagovailoa completed just 14 of his 23 passes for 114 yards, and while he did eventually find the end zone in the fourth quarter, the damage was already insurmountable. Daniel Jones surprisingly outdueled him in a highly effective debut with the Colts.

“It was something that was left to be desired,” McDaniel said of Tagovailoa’s play. “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.”

De’Von Achane was efficient on the ground and as a pass-catcher, but the game script forced Miami into more passing situations and eliminated the offense’s balance. Achane was on the receiving end of Tagovaiola’s lone touchdown pass and averaged 7.9 yards per carry, making him essentially the only bright spot on the Dolphins’ roster.

“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.”

The Miami defense was a sieve and has to be better if McDaniel is to right the ship and rebuild his increasingly questionable job security. But the offense, even if Tagovailoa is only partially to blame, looked like the bigger issue in Week 1. The disjointed effort saw the unit’s most talented players fail to make a difference and need about 54 minutes to score their first points.

“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.”