Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is having the worst season of his career, and with Miami now mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, coach Mike McDaniel is facing questions about making a change at quarterback.
Tagovailoa’s numbers show a massive regression: With three games left in the season, he already has career highs in interceptions and sacks. His 15 interceptions this year are more than twice as many as the seven he threw last year — despite the fact that he threw more passes last year than he has this year.
Before Monday night’s ugly offensive showing in a loss to the Steelers, the Dolphins were on a four-game winning streak. But the team’s success was due largely to not relying on Tagovailoa to throw the ball. It’s not a coincidence that during the Dolphins’ four-game winning streak, Tagovailoa’s passing output was way down, while the Dolphins’ rushing production was way up. McDaniel was finding a winning game plan, and the plan was to win the game by not giving Tagovailoa opportunities to lose the game.
Tagovailoa has thrown more interceptions than any other quarterback in the NFL, and it’s not like he’s throwing those interceptions while making a lot of big plays in a high-risk, high-reward offense: Of all the quarterbacks in the NFL who have started every game this year, Tagovailoa has both the fewest passing yards and fewest passing touchdowns of anyone other than Titans rookie Cam Ward.
Moving on from Tagovailoa won’t be easy, as the Dolphins owe him $54 million guaranteed next year. But it’s hard to see how the Dolphins can move forward in 2026 with a quarterback who has played the way Tagovailoa has played in 2025.
