The media pundits had a feeding frenzy this week with Tua Tagovailoa’s comments about “keeping receipts” and begging the talking heads to keep treating him like he’s “the worst football player” in the league.

Shannon Sharpe set it off Thursday morning on ESPN’s First Take when asked what he thought about Tua’s comments,

“Bruh! You’re standing up there like you, Dan Marino!”

“Stop playing!”

“We remember what you were before Tyreek got there.”

Strong words from the Hall of Fame. Has he even watched any Miami games this year? It sure doesn’t seem like it. But Shannon Sharpe is not alone. Even though Tua leads the league in passing, yards/game, and completion percentage, most national media analysts still don’t trust Tua and the Miami offense.

Appearing on ESPN’s First Take, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo said, “They’re gonna lose one of these next two games Stevey (vsDAL, at BAL)…and I’m gonna trust Allen more in that game (last game of the season at Hard Rock potentially for the division) than I’m going to trust Tua.”

It’s super frustrating as a fan. We watch every game. We see every throw. We hear every sound bite. But it’s entirely out of our control. We Dolphins fans will never be able to change the national narrative, no matter how many times we tweet in all CAPS. No, that task is left to one man. Tua Tagovailoa. Right or wrong it is what it is.

In order for the narrative to start to change, this one thing must happen. Tua must lead the Dolphins to a playoff win. And then you get to change the narrative for one season. From there, you need to become a champion to change the narrative fully. That’s it. That’s the answer. Just keep winning.

You might say, “But Carlos, football is a team sport. He can’t do it on his own.”

And you would be correct. But more is needed to satisfy the appetite of the media sharks and Tua haters.

So the next chapter in the 2023 season story starts on Sunday, Christmas Eve, at Hard Rock Stadium. If Tua can lead his team to victory against a winning team for the first time this season, then the narrative about Tua and the 2023 Miami Dolphins will have to change.