In case you missed it, Tua Tagovailoa has officially been benched by the Miami Dolphins. They will start rookie Quinn Ewers moving forward. It is a stunning turn of events, as the team appears to be distancing itself from its $200 million quarterback.
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Just 12 hours before the massive decision, Tua was surrounded by controversy following Miami’s 28-15 loss against Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football. The star QB was caught laughing with former teammate Jalen Ramsey on the field. It was a bad look, given that the Dolphins had just been eliminated from playoff contention.
When analyzing Tagovailoa’s subpar play and his postgame laughter, Emmanuel Acho outlined two major reasons why the quarterback should be benched, before he ultimately was.
“First and foremost, the play on the field has been atrocious. In meaningful minutes yesterday, 6 for 10, no touchdowns, one interception, and I believe he got sacked two times. Then, in the fourth quarter, you want to go 12 for 13 and throw a couple of touchdowns; I don’t care. It’s too late,” Acho reasoned on Speakeasy.
The Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel, said after the loss that the play at the quarterback position was not good enough, marking the first real indication that a change was being considered. He ultimately acted on that decision.
Acho then shifted focus to Tagovailoa’s lack of seriousness after the game.
“Secondly, something that irritated me, agitated me, and frustrated me more than anything Tua did during the game. Did y’all see Tua after the game? Because after the game, I don’t want to see you doing this,” Acho said.
The analyst even prompted a video that showed Tua laughing and joking around with Ramsey.
“Why are we ‘Haha-ing’ and ‘Kiki-ing’?” he questioned. “You just got eliminated from the playoffs! And the team that just eliminated you from the playoffs is continuing on their playoff hunt. You should not be in a mood to laugh, smile, or joke even with your former teammate… You should not be so accustomed to losing that it doesn’t move you emotionally.”
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They’re all excellent points made by one of the more contentious analysts in the NFL. Many fans were annoyed by Acho’s constant bias towards Tua over his draft counterpart, Justin Herbert, in the past. But now, he’s clearly grown tired of the antics and ways of Tagovailoa.
Who knows if the laughing led to Tua’s benching? That’s something that we’d need to hear from McDaniel to get a grasp on. What we do know is that after throwing 15 interceptions on the season, dealing with media escapades, and being eliminated from the playoffs, the head coach is seemingly done with Tagovailoa. It’ll be interesting to see how the team moves forward with him in the 2026 offseason.
