“It was sore when it did happen.”
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led his team to a big win over the Buffalo Bills, on Sunday, but there is expected to be a significant fall-out after he was allowed to continue after initially being taken off the field, following a blow to the head.
Following a throw to teammate Jaylen Waddle, Bills linebacker Matt Milano shoved Tagovailoa and knocked him to the ground. The quarterback hit his head in the process and he lost balance when he tried to resume play.
— SmashMouthin' Football 💥👅 🏈 (@SMingFootball) September 26, 2022
Tua Tagovailoa did not return for the final two minutes of the half but did play the second half. He later told reporters that he had hyper-extended his back and he stumbled as his back locked up on him. The NFL Players Association has now told the NFL it wants to initiate a review of the league’s concussion protocols.
The third weekend of the NFL season was full of shockers and defensive masterclasses. We got the run-down on that Tua incident, and more, from David McDonnell of Smashmouting Football.
Tua Tagovailoa and a Miami upset
Okay, Okay, I know what’s coming.
Wasn’t I the one that said I couldn’t see any way the Buffalo Bills would lose down in Miami? That a defence that couldn’t lay a glove on Lamar Jackson in Week 2, wouldn’t fare any better against a better quarterback in Josh Allen?
Well, the Dolphins certainly served me up a slice of humble pie, after their defence won a highly- anticipated AFC East divisional match-up that didn’t disappoint and was high on the physicality that most football fans enjoy.
I’ll give credit where credit is due, because the Superbowl favourite Bills had possession of the ball for over 40 minutes in the Miami heat, more than twice that of their opponents. In all, the Dolphins defence faced 90 plays in the game and managed to curtail the highly-rated Allen.
Key to this victory was the Miami Dolphins’ blitz. No team had blitzed more in the opening two weeks than Miami and continually they came up with key stops in the second half to get Buffalo off the field.
The scores were tied 14-14 at the break. Devin Singletary ran in on fourth down. Soon after Jevon Holland dispossessed Allen in the tackle and Melvin Ingram recovered to give Miami a short field. Chase Edmonds responded for the Dolphins before Allen then found Isaiah McKenzie with a lobbed pass for an easy score.
Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa matched this when he found wide receiver River Cracraft with an accurate dart in the endzone for the second consecutive week.
Tua with a dart to Crawcraft pic.twitter.com/PgpqgMiLa5
— SmashMouthin' Football 💥👅 🏈 (@SMingFootball) September 26, 2022
The Butt Punt
On his next possession came a notable incident in the contest. Tua was pushed late and seemed to bang his head off the ground. When he stood up, his body took a wobble and he stumbled with what looked like an obvious concussion. When he went for a head injury assessment, most presumed he was done for the day.
His replacement Teddy Bridgewater was ushered in but at the start of the second half Tua returned to take his place under centre. The Dolphins have since stated that his stumble was due to a back injury and the Players’ Association are looking into this incident to see if the concussion protocol was followed correctly.
Back to the game and on the last play of the first half, within field goal range, Josh Allen lost control of the ball on the snap so he couldn’t spike the ball to stop the clock and time ran out on the half.
Miami took the lead for the first time in the contest, when Chase Edmonds made his way over from two yards in the fourth quarter to give the home side a 17-21 lead. Buffalo managed to drive their way to their opponents one-yard line with two minutes remaining but the Dolphins defence held them out on all four downs.
It left Miami camped outside their own goal line and four plays later came undoubtedly the most memorable play of the game.
Punter Tommy Morestead, instead of kicking the ball down the field, somehow managed to kick it against the rear end of a teammate causing the ball to fly high into the air and over the rear end of the pitch for a safety.
Butt kick pic.twitter.com/XBOSprEtoV
— SmashMouthin' Football 💥👅 🏈 (@SMingFootball) September 26, 2022
It left the scores 19-21 with Allen getting the ball back for a final drive needing only a field goal to win the contest.
On second down from the 53, Allen managed to slip away from a few would-be tacklers and found McKenzie who brought the ball to field goal range with 12 seconds left. However, by the time the referee had placed the ball, the Bills didn’t have enough time to snap the ball much to the frustration of their offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who I can guess didn’t seem best pleased with the clock management of his charges.
MELTDOWN!!! pic.twitter.com/O9i9KnqvR1
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 25, 2022
The Dolphins are now the only team in the AFC with three wins from three, which shows, in my opinion, the wonderful competitiveness of the NFL.
In the NFC, only the Philadelphia Eagles have a 3-0 start after they barnstormed the Washington Commanders. This win was also led by their defence as Washington didn’t get a first down in seven first-half possessions, punting six times and coughing up an interception. At the break, the Eagles led 24-0 with Jalen Hurts finding Dallas Goedert, AJ Brown and Devontae Smith for scores for a lead which was never threatened.
Surprise Surprise, Matty Ice is Back!!!
The most surprising result on Sunday came when the Kansas City Chiefs were handed their first loss of the season by the Indianapolis Colts. It was a day when the Chiefs were punished for a number of self-inflicted errors and these indiscretions cost them the game.
They must have known they were going to be in for a tough day when rookie Skyy Moore dropped a punt on what would have been their first possession. It left the Colts with a short field and Matt Ryan found tight-end Jelani Woods for a touchdown with the first catch of his rookie career.
Kansas responded well with Patrick Mahommes finding Travis Kelce, before a Clyde Edwards-Helaire TD saw them into a 14-10 lead.
On half-time Mahommes got into a touchline disagreement with his offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, being overtly displeased that his coach decided to go into the locker room instead of going for it from their own half on third and 19. It perhaps showed the frustration that the Chiefs displayed during the contest and this became more obvious in the second half.
The Chiefs had a chance to extend their lead to seven with a field goal when a trick-play was poorly executed. On their next attack they decided to go for the kick and missed from 34 yards.
It gave Colts QB Matt Ryan possession of the ball with 8.38 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Eight minutes and fifteen plays later, the Colts were up to the 12-yard line and ‘Matty Ice,’ it’s been a while since that moniker was in vogue, found Woods once again for the winning touchdown with 24 seconds left on the clock.
Matty Ice is back pic.twitter.com/nXPvF3yCgX
— SmashMouthin' Football 💥👅 🏈 (@SMingFootball) September 26, 2022
It was Woods’ second catch of his career and his second touchdown of the contest.
Notably on that last drive, the Chiefs had sacked Matt Ryan on third down but their defensive lineman Chris Jones was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for yapping away in Ryan’s face. This incident resulted in a 15-yard penalty and a new set of downs that contributed to the result, which sees the Colts with an unlikely record of 1-1-1 after three games.
*For more on Minnesota Vikings pipping the Detroit Lions, Aaron Rodgers besting Tom Brady and a round-up on the rest of Week 3, check out Smashmouting Football.
