A lot of the posters who "came back" have shown a pattern of only returning when there is a loss or when Tua plays badly or gets hurt. Not to mention all the "new" accounts. IMO, that's different than reading without posting, or posting rarely. And let's be clear. It would be great if this forum could get 100's of new members. But when "new" people post it's fairly obvious that they aren't new. And you shouldn't cut yourself short. Objective opinions are always welcome. I'm sure you have things of value to add.
I am a huge fan of Tua's abilities. I think he wins a super bowl with the Dolphins in the next couple of years. I think he should retire. That last concussion was different for me. That was a situation where he initiated the contact. Tua was fully braced, the defender didn't do anything but wrap up, and he still went out. If after everything that has happened he cannot get through that with out retraumatizing his brain, for whatever reason, it's time to put health first. That was as basic play as there is.
The issue that no one is discussing is how he played before the concussion. Putting the emotions and sentiments aside for a sec, from just a performance standpoint, he was really bad before the concussion. I mean..really bad. It really seemed like there was something mentally off with him. There were some real wtf passes in that game. I'm saying this even just judging from how he himself has played before. I mean, the game is already out of hand, he's near the redzone, he already has the first down, knowing his own history of injuries, as well as his size and build, he decides to take on and almost sought out a NFL safety, and drops his shoulder into him? This is a real important issue to discuss. So, whether he insanely comes back and he may just do so, I don't think yet another concussion and more missed time, is going to help improve what we saw for the nearly three quarters of play against a good team prior to the concussion.
All QB's have bad games. Look at how many QB's had multiple INT's this weekend. Jackson, Purdy, Dak, and Goff all had mistake filled games and their teams lost to inferior opponents. Saying that, his 1st two INT's were due to having no practice with two practice squad players. Timing and communication were the problems there. His 3rd was him just being careless. He wasn't playing badly, but those two INT's put the Dolphins in a big hole that most assuredly changed the game plan and caused him to be more aggressive. Hs decision to do what he did was foolish.
He played quite well for most of the 1st half. That 1st INT wasn't at all on him either. Then things started to fall apart. That 3rd INT was just stupid, and it's possible he was trying extra hard to prove something when he lunged forward for the 1st down that resulted in the concussion. But no he wasn't playing bad for most of the 1st half. I still blame McD for all the short passes and heavy reliance on the running game. No one in the NFL is afraid of our running game. It's the explosive pass play they're afraid of, and not attempting those regularly is just stupid. So yes something did rattle Tua maybe late 2nd half or so. But that wasn't a major story until the 3rd INT and concussion.
I'm sure all Tua haters believe that. Then again, they believe when the Dolphins win it's because the players around Tua, but when they lose it's Tua. The facts are, he wasn't playing horrible, he was about average, before his concussion. The Dolphins were attempting to make it a 10 point game when he went down. The first two INT's weren't mistakes on him...or at least not mainly on him. The first INT bounced off of the WR's shoulder pads. I'll give the receiver some leniency because it looked like the timing of his route and pass were a little off. And that'd due to limited practice time. The 2nd INT was miscommunication. The receiver stopped while Tua was expecting him to keep running. Again, that's due to limited reps between the two. The 3rd was just a stupid throw and 100% (maybe 95% because he had about 2 seconds before a rusher was in his face) on Tua. Not to mention, the entire left side of the line was being manned by back-ups at that point.
It's whatever fits his narrative regardless of any objective thinking. You can bet that if Rap had said, "Sources confirm that Tua is strongly considering retirement", Stale would say, "See! Here is proof that Tua is retiring."
Sure, lets talk about Tua's play. First drive, Tua was moving the ball when DuBose let that pass bounce off of his shoulder pad and be intercepted in Bills territory LOS was Miami 39, INT at Buffalo 38. Next Drive was a TD. Then the interception where Tua threw a deeper route than Chosen ran. Not 100% sure who was at fault, but between Tua and Chosen, I have my suspicions. Then was the drive where Armstead held and turned a first down run into 2 and 17, which Tua turned into a 3rd and 3, and they failed to convert. Next drive was the 3rd and 1, that turned into a 4th and 2, and a turn over on a sack that I would put on Tua. Then came the Field Goal drive at the end of the half. So, first half, I guess it matters how you weigh the Chosen interception, and the 4th down sack. I cannot see anyone putting the shoulder pad bounce on Tua. That was a great throw that should have converted a 3rd and 13. I put the INT on Chosen, and the sack on Tua. Second half. Terrible attempt at a throw away that was a pick 6, followed by long drive to concussion town and a turn over on downs inside the 10.
Yeah, it's cool, I just don't get how his performance pre concussion can be downplayed. It just seemed like more than just an off day. I don't think this is the type of play that most expected going into the season. Yes, lots of QB have and had off days and the over-all, passing numbers around the league have been low for the first couple of games this season. I'm not focusing on other teams right now and "the Devil is in the details". I would have to watch and analyze every game. I have for some, but regardless. I don't know, dudes, given the hype going into the season, all the contracts given out, Tua supposedly getting leaner and faster, etc, I just don't get how his play could not, at least, give someone a little pause about how things appear to be going. I just don't see how a concussion and more missed time is going to improve things.
Ignoring that 2nd half in Buffalo, my main issue with the Dolphins offense in both the Jacksonville and Buffalo games was play calling. It felt like Philbin or Gase was calling the plays. I didn't think Tua was the primary issue.
The pick at the end of the first quarter looked like he was intentionally throwing to the defender. That was bad. Two pick sixes in the game and again against a good team. I guess I should admire the optimism.
That 2nd INT was more on Chosen than Tua. Chosen stopped his route early. The guy hasn't been with the Dolphins very long so I guess stuff like that happens, but the blame is mostly on him not Tua.
I’ve seen enough from Tua. I like the guy but seeing these multiple head injuries is scary and I don’t want to see him go through that again. I also think he’s hit his ceiling.
I don't think there were two pick-6's. I kind of checked out during the game so maybe I'm wrong. The 3rd INT was him throwing off the back foot due to pressure from the left side. A left side that had their back-up LT and 3rd string RG Cotton (Remember, Jones is Wynn's back-up), playing. I still give Tua the overwhelming majority of the blame, however, because he should have seen the defender and should have known he wasn't going to get it OOB off his back foot. Those things happen, however. Just look at Brady's last play in New England. (Sorry, I always try to fit that last little bit in in case there are any Pats fans lurking around here...lol)
Even if he has hit his ceiling, a top 5 QB in nearly all majority QB measurables is something we haven't seen here in nearly 25 years. What more can you ask for? As for his head injuries, he needs to play smarter (like he did last season) and avoid situations like the Bills game. Nearly any QB, if the hit was the same, would have suffered a concussion. It's not like Tua is lightly getting hit and getting knocked out. If that were the case I, too, would have the opinion he should retire. However, if a neurologist clears him, who am I to say he's wrong for playing?
Yeah, keeping Tua or not should be based solely on his play. The Buffalo game counts of course, but if he comes back I expect the stats to end up pretty good by season's end. Anything in approximately top 7-ish range is usually 1 standard deviation above the mean, and if you get that there's no complaining.
Of course you didn't. This was always going to be the natural shift in blame. McDaniel increased Tua's passer rating by 17 points in his 1st season with him. That's water into wine, and still some of you don't get it. This was a miracle he made him this good. He got him PAID. Stupidly. Something you all supported. That's water into wine, but yet it's still, well this wine is OK but it's no Chateau Lafite 1869.
Yea he has some great volume stats when he can play a full season. I don’t think he’ll ever lead the league in scoring or carry the team through a tough playoff game on the road. I’d love to be wrong but I really thought this year he was going to breakout instead of breakdown. I think we’ve seen his best.
This assertion you are making that any other QB taking that hit would have been concussed and that Tua is not any more susceptible to concussions is just flat out wrong and honestly a ridiculous argument at this point. You were arguing the same thing after Tua's previous concussions and you were wrong then as well. I see QBs scrambling and putting their head down like that all the time, some QBs do that regularly multiple times per game and don't get concussed. Tua does it once and he gets laid out in a fencing posture, again. It's scientifcally proven that having multiple consussions will make you more suceptible to getting more consussions, with less force required to get one the more times it happens. These things don't get better with time. We are going to have get Tua to bulk up again and absolutely forbid him from scrambling or holding the ball for more than 2 seconds like we did last year if we dont want him to get concussed again, and that will limit what we can do offensively and how succesful the team can be. The guy is just not a Franchise QB and Grier should not have given him the big contract after just one season of not getting injured while they did everything except wrap him in bubble wrap to avoid him being hit. That strategy is just not sustainable long term if your goal is to win the big games and a Superbowl. Eventually your QB is going to have to take some hits without flatlining.
Last year he lead the 2nd best offense in scoring with 29.2 PPG. The Cowboys were #1 with 29.9 PPG. Most QB's don't carry their teams in playoff road games. Josh Allen is 0-3 on the road in the post season. Mahomes, in 18 postseason games, has played in exactly 2 on the road and that was last season. Dan Marino was 1-6 on the road in the post season. Tom Brady played in 11 road playoff games and was 6-5. P. Manning played in 7 road playoff games and was 2-5. Rodgers has played in 11 road playoff games and is 5-6. Again, is best is plenty good enough.
Look, overall Tua played terribly, no question. But he wasn't playing bad until late in the 2nd. And if Tua keeps putting up elite level stats then he is elite. Acting like this is some "miracle" where McD took an average-ish QB and got him to consistently put up elite stats flies against the extremely low probably of that ever occurring. No different than with Purdy. You also said Purdy wasn't special but in a great situation. Now I think you're coming around to him actually being good even though nothing has changed. The difference is consistency. Tua has elevated the players around him. The last two years isn't just McD. It's clearly a miscommunication. A lot of commentators were saying Chosen did not run the right route. I'm not pulling that out of thin air.
Let's get something out of the way, the organization and these fans were VERY wrong for giving Tua that contract no matter what happens the rest of the way. Even if Tua comes back at the end of the season, it doesn't change the fact that they were VERY wrong about that deal. If Tua comes back, it would have been a hundred times better to have the flexibility to see how he finishes. Additionally, even if you wanted to commit to him long term at the end of the season, ANY long term contract would have more outs AND more clauses than this total dumpster fire contract they are attached to. Can these posters admit how wrong they were about this contract? Of course not. Deflect city.
In Cinci, all QB's would have been concussed. In GB, Tua suffered a hit to the head from the ground that we saw Stafford do when he went into a fencing position and was momentarily unconscious with a similar hit last season against Detroit. In this last hit his head and neck definitely induced shearing forces to his brain stem and then his head slamming on the ground finished him off. You're not objective enough, nor smart enough, to discuss any of this.
Nope. You're once again not letting things play out first. What if Tua comes back and performs consistently well? Again, don't take a victory lap before we see what actually happens.
When did I say that about Purdy? I like Purdy a lot more than Tua. Tua was nothing but very below average before they added Tyreek and created a system to hide his faults. Those are the facts. Watch the All-22. The QB school guy goes over it. The ball was SAILED.
Let's be clear. Stale and hitman both WANT Tua to fail because they've hated the pick since before Tua played a down in the NFL. They are more concerned about being right than they are anything else. If it takes the Dolphins going 1-16 they're OK with that. They are both hyperbolic and literally jump to as many conclusions as possible in order to push their narratives. Everything they write here about Tua should be disregarded.
I explained that in the post. Please re-read it: "Additionally, even if you wanted to commit to him long term at the end of the season, ANY long term contract would have more outs AND more clauses than this total dumpster fire contract they are attached to."
So after taking a few days to wait and see what happens here figured I'd drop an opinion... If Tua retires... forcefully or willingly Chris Grier needs to be fired, especially if there is nothing in that contract that protects the team from this exact scenario that anyone with half a brain knew was very likely to have played out. In my opinion it is inexcusable to sign a player to a big money contract with the concussion history that Tua has had. It will most likely leave this team in cap hell for quite some time. If Tua decides to play again (selfishly I hope he does because he's performed well under McDaniel in this offense and I was really looking forward to seeing him take another big step this year) then I hope he has at least sought out the professional advice of as many doctors and specialists as possible to help him make that decision. He's a young man, with a very young family and a very long concerning history of head injuries at this point. First and foremost above and beyond football I want the guy to have a great, long life outside of this game for the sake of himself and his family. Then I hope he comes back, wins a super bowl with us this year and then rides off into the sunset. Also... if he does come back to the field for the love of God SLIDE the next time you run. There is ZERO need for you to be lowering your head like that. I admire the competitive mindset but as a QB your best ability is your availability.
You went on and on about Purdy being like Tua, nothing special but in a great situation. For example:
Contracts are a negotiation. You're not going to just get all that additional flexibility without giving up something in return. Maybe we'd have had to pay more, or something else. So it may turn out that the actual contract we gave Tua is the better deal IF he ends up performing at a high level consistently. Having said that I personally would have wanted more flexibility even if it meant sacrificing elsewhere in the contract. But it's still true that the contract we gave might end up being the better deal IF Tua plays well consistently.
lol...These poop sandwiches you feed these guys makes me laugh time and time again. It's like they don't understand that what they write here stays here and is easily found. Or is it that they really are just trolling, write inflammatory posts, and forget what they've even written because even they don't believe it because they just want discourse here?
This is a good example of being completely incapable of admitting you are wrong. The contract was signed after him coming off a career season and staying healthy, and with the idea all his concussion problems are behind him. Tua having another concussion putting him on the edge of retirement and missing a significant portion of this season would absolutely impact the end of this season's contract negotiation. And again, at this point you'd absolutely want the flexibility regardless WHICH YOU DO NOT HAVE. Admit it bud. It'll be OK.
