INDIANAPOLIS — The first thing Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel pointed to in terms of reasons for his team’s disastrous season-opening defeat against the Indianapolis Colts was that the Dolphins were minus-3 in turnover margin.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw two interceptions and had a lost fumble on a strip-sack, all in a first half of a season debut that quickly got out of hand on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We don’t want to overreact. We don’t want to underreact to this,” Tagovailoa said of the turnovers. “We want to get this right so we make sure this never happens again.”
First, Tagovailoa missed high to wide receiver Tyreek Hill on the Dolphins’ opening drive for an interception. He then had a fumble forced by nickel cornerback Kenny Moore that was recovered by former teammate in cornerback Xavien Howard.
“That’s just not how you start the game,” Tagovailoa said. “Interception. We come back out the next drive, turn the ball over with the strip-sack. Next drive, we just can’t get anything going. How do you build off of that, is what we’re looking forward to.
Tagovailoa was seen tapping Hill on the helmet
“Just a throw I sailed on Tyreek. I maybe hung on to it a little longer, probably should’ve progressed on that. My feet were telling me to progress on that. Probably would’ve had Jaylen (Waddle) on that throw.”
Early in the second half, Tagovailoa was intercepted by defensive end Laiatu Latu dropping back into coverage.
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“I did see him,” said Tagovailoa, who off the high throw to Hill didn’t didn’t get it over the underneath defender. “That was terrible, is what it was.”
McDaniel noted his quarterback’s underwhelming play but didn’t pin all the blame on him.
“Without watching the tape, it was something that was left to be desired,” McDaniel said. “It’s definitely not all on him. I think there’s just throws that I know he makes nine times out of 10 and he didn’t make them (Sunday).”
McDaniel also pointed to the “surprise pressures” the Dolphins saw.
Tagovailoa took sacks and hits, specifically as the Dolphins didn’t pick up certain blitzes from defensive backs. He pointed to communication up front at fault on that front and said he handled the hits fine. McDaniel attributed it to mental mistakes against Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s pressures.
Tagovailoa pushed back Sunday against a question stating his turnovers tend to come in bunches, saying it was merely how Sunday went.
