Tua Tagovailoa isn't ready to wave the white flag of surrender, but Miami Dolphins fans do not see a path to turn this season around and make it worthwhile. In fact, the only thing the Dolphins can do right now is ruin their draft slotting.
Miami is now 2-5 on the season after getting beat late in the game by Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. With the Buffalo Bills on deck, Dolphins fans are not having any of the rah-rah pep talks. They need to see the results on the field, and today, they didn't see enough when it mattered.
The Dolphins' loss doesn't eliminate them from the postseason chase, and Tua was quick to point that out in his press conference after the game.
"There's always time. Seventeen games is a long time," said Tagovailoa. "A lot of people in here know, I don't know how many years ago, we started out 1-7. We didn't have half the guys that we have—and no disrespect to my other teammates—but I'm talking about the talent that we have here. We didn't have half that talent."
"To give that group respect, we won the next eight games. I'm not saying we're going to do that or whatnot, but it is possible. Anything is possible."
Dolphins won't give up, but their season is effectively over after brutal loss to Cardinals
He is referring to the 2021 season, when the Dolphins won eight of their final nine games to turn a 1-7 record into 9-8. They still missed the playoffs.
Clearly, Tua isn't ready to throw the towel in but again, but Dolphins fans are not buying into it.
They have been down this road before, and the return of Tagovailoa again gave them hope for a turnaround, but that isn't going to happen. No one expects the Dolphins' players to give up and not try to win, but at some point, the effort will change if it hasn't already.
There were plenty of missed opportunities on the field Sunday, but the bottom line is they couldn't get themselves past them. With a nine-point lead late in the game, the Dolphins gave up a two-point safety that gave the Cardinals an opportunity to cut the lead to seven, and they took advantage of it. The Dolphins did not.
