Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa In a Pre game Warm up

Miami Dolphins Fans Must Keep an Even Keel

Let’s not kid ourselves, the last year and a half has been a roller coaster of emotions, from the firing of Adam Gase to owner Stephen Ross publicly saying how the Dolphins need to rebuild, to trading Ryan Tannehill, Laremy Tunsil, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, to being outscored 102-10 in the first 2 games of the 2019 season, starting 0-7, to somebody calling out the Miami Dolphins for “colluding” to get the first pick and opening up an investigation, The “Tank For Tua” chants, while also feeling hopeless thinking they would go 0-16, the feeling was as low as can be.

Then the optimism hit when the Dolphins finished 5-4 down the stretch and beating the New England Patriots in Week 17, denying them of a first-round bye, clinching the 5th pick in the 2020 draft, fans excited thinking that we have our coach and that a team with 40% of the roster being undrafted finished 5-11 has a great future ahead. More optimism came with signing Byron Jones, Ereck Flowers after a great year in Washington, drafting Tua Tagovailoa, and investing in the offensive line, a whole bunch of optimism in the offseason.

Tua Tagovailoa has been linked to the Miami Dolphins since the day Ryan Tannehill was traded. Miami was able to draft him without finishing with the worst record, nor having to trade up for him and give up future assets. Miami has been playing well before him being inserted into the starting lineup, starting 3-3, only a game back of the Buffalo Bills with one more game head-to-head, there’s a whole bunch of emotions regarding this move, some hate it, some like it. I personally like the move because drafting players are investments, you got to see what you have out of your investment heading into the 2021 season and beyond. A 38-year-old QB playing well only slows down that evaluation period.

But what if Tua does not play well on Sunday? What if he shines and plays to the expectation that a lot of Miami Dolphins have of him?

The answer is, to be even keel. That in reality, it’s just one game, regardless of the result. Yes, even if he stinks it up against the Rams, even keel is the approach to go. There are still 9 games left of the season after Sunday, there is still at least 3 more years on his contract, 4 years if his 5th-year option is picked up before the 2023 season. Yes, Sunday, November 1st, 2020 at 1 pm is the day we’ve all been waiting for, there are excitement and hope.

What is it to be even keel? When a person’s emotions are under control, balanced, and steady.

Brian Flores will have that approach regardless of the result. If the Dolphins win, he’ll say something like “Great team win today, now it’s time to move on to Arizona.”

If Miami loses, regardless of Tua’s play, he’s not going to panic. Neither should we.

Yes, each and every NFL team is judged on a week-by-week basis, how fans feel about the team is based on the most recent performance most times. Especially because football is a sport that is only played once a week, and in between games, there is all that time to break down and even nitpick every single thing that went wrong or right. I get it, I am guilty of this too.

If the Dolphins lose, don’t be too hard on this team nor Tua, or at least try not to be. Remember that Peyton Manning Colts went 3-13 in his first season as the Starter, Brett Favre’s first NFL pass was a pick-6. Even currently, Joe Burrow looks great despite him being beaten up by defensive linemen, and Justin Herbert’s Chargers team has been plagued with injuries, and he looks good. Wins and losses don’t tell the whole story on a Quarterback’s performance. Yes, Tua Tagovailoa is in a better football situation with better talent around him, so the expectation should be for him to perform well out of the gate right? At the end of the day, he is a rookie and is starting his first football game in almost a year, so there might be a little rust there at the beginning. It might take him even a game or two to get even more comfortable with executing the playbook, even though he has been studying it prior to him being named the starter.

So think long term, it is not just about next Sunday, nor next. This is about the next 5, 10, even 15 years where the Dolphins can really build him up, along with the rest of the team. Growing pains, that is a guarantee. I don’t have a reason to believe that Tua will have a hard time being motivated to come back stronger the next week if he does not have a good game. That goes for any week, not just this Sunday.

“To be evenminded is the greatest virtue.” – Heraclitus

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