Tua Tagovailoa has come back in style…sort of. The Miami Dolphins have warded off the Pittsburgh Steelers and their rookie QB Kenny Pickett 16-10 in Tua Tagovailoa’s heroic return to the starting lineup.
Okay, Tua Tagovailoa’s heroic return to the Miami Dolphins wasn’t really that heroic, in regard to his play. Yes, I give Tua all the credit in the world for coming back only a few weeks after suffering two brutal concussions in a span of a week, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Dolphins offense looked pretty pathetic last night.
The Steelers defense once again proved their worth as they stifled the high-powered Miami offense all night long by ending up with 62 tackles, 4 TFL, 5 PD, and a QB hit. Sure, without T.J. Watt, the Steelers frontline didn’t really get to Tua much, but the rest of the defense was able to break up most of the dangerous passes he threw and stopped the Miami rush attack in its tracks.
LBs Myles Jack (10 tackles) and Devin Bush (6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD) played especially well as they were both dominate in plugging in the rushing gaps, while also breaking up/stopping Miami receivers downfield. Without them, the Steelers probably would have gotten blown out by the Dolphins.
In fact, if the Steelers defensive backs didn’t have bricks for hands, they might have had a chance to win this game as they nearly picked off Tua FOUR times. Plus, they Steelers also keep the “Dynamic Duo” of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to 72 yards and 88 yards, respectively. Aside from the four dropped interceptions, the Steelers defense played well.
The same can’t be said about the Steelers offense.
I’ve got to be honest, Kenny Pickett has looked even worse than Mitchell Trubisky under center. He finished this game throwing 32/44, 257 yards, 1 TD, and 3 INTs, which sealed the fate of the Black And Gold from the first minute of this game. You can’t win football games when you’re turning the ball over 3+ times consistently. And especially not when you turn the ball over in the redzone with less than 30 seconds left in the game, which is what Pickett did.
Now, I blamed Mitch Trubisky for playing awful in the first few weeks of the season, and it’s only fair that I do the same with Kenny Pickett too.
So, I will…but with a caveat. I’m taking back most of my complaints about Mitch for failing in getting this offense going as I think the vast majority of the blame should be placed on Steelers OC Matt Canada. Simply put, this guy is dreadful.
The Steelers offense has been woefully bad under Canada, despite having three different QBs come in and out of center (Ben Rothlisberger, Mitchell Trubisky, and Kenny Pickett). Sure, Big Ben was washed up last season and that can be used as an excuse as for why the offense was bad, but you can’t say the same about Trubisky or Pickett.
These two guys will probably never reach the Hall of Fame caliber QB that Rothlisberger was during his heyday, but they certainly aren’t washed up right now.
Canada has got to go.
As for Tua, he was okay. Even though he had a respectable stat night (21/35, 261 yards, 1 TD), he should have been punished on at least two of his four ‘would-be’ interceptions. He was lucky the Steelers defense couldn’t catch the ball even though it was delivered on a silver platter time and again for them, but I’ll give him a break. He is coming back from a devastating concussion.
But Tua better not struggle to throw the ball any longer as every team in the AFC East is really good this season. The Bills are a juggernaut (5-1), the Jets are a miracle (5-2), and the Patriots are the Patriots under Bill Belichick (3-3; playing Bears on MNF). There’s no room for the Dolphins to slip up if they want to make it back to the playoffs this season, even though they are currently 4-3 right now.
The Steelers, on the other hand, are an absolute disaster as this loss drops them to 2-5 and has all but sealed their chances of making the playoffs. Actually, this season should be seen as a success for the Steelers if Mike Tomlin can keep his winning season streak alive. Though, the Steelers winning seven more games this season looks just as likely as the Dallas Cowboys winning the Super Bowl this year.
It’s not going to happen.
Tomlin should have left for USC when he had the chance.
