The Miami Dolphins came into their Week 5 game against the Carolina Panthers in desperate need of a win to help turn around their season. Many of the problems plaguing the Dolphins all season long continued, which led to an incredibly passionate postgame press conference from star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa hasn’t had the best season thus far. But he certainly came to play on Sunday against the Panthers, completing 75 percent of his passes while throwing for 256 yards and three touchdowns to keep the Dolphins in the game.
Unfortunately, a lack of a consistent running game and an inability to stop the run on defense overshadowed Tagovailoa’s impressive performance, with the Panthers coming away with a 27-24 victory to improve to 2-3 on the year.
The loss puts the Dolphins at 1-4 on the year, a far cry from the expectations many had placed on them before the season to potentially be the biggest threats to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
After Sunday’s game, Tagovailoa didn’t mince words about where the team stands through the first five weeks of the season, explaining that something needs to change in a hurry if they are going to turn things around this year.
"We've got to figure this out, and we've got to figure this out now,” said Tagovailoa, via ESPN Dolphins reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques. “This feeling sucks."
It’s hard to get much more direct than Tagovailoa’s comments here. And given how well he played in a losing effort here, it’s hard to fault Tagovailoa for being frustrated after the game.
Unfortunately for Dolphins fans, things don’t get any easier for them on paper heading into a Week 6 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, who have looked like one of the best teams in the AFC thus far this season.
So if something doesn’t change quickly, as Tagovailoa is insisting has to happen, the team could very well see this year turn into a lost cause for the Dolphins.
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