During his 17 seasons as quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, Dan Marino led the NFL in passing yards five times and played in 18 postseason games in 10 seasons.Current Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t achieved those accomplishments yet, but Marino thinks the former Alabama All-American has Miami on track for what could be a “very special” season.
With three games left in the regular season, the Dolphins lead the AFC East with a record of 10-4 and Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passing yards with 3,921 yards. On Sunday, Tagovailoa totaled 224 passing yards in a 30-0 win over the New York Jets, bringing his total in his 48 NFL starts to 11,769. Tagovailoa became the 21st NFL player with that many passing yards in his first 48 games. Marino was the second quarterback to reach that milestone after Joe Namath, joining Tagovailoa, a Crimson Tide alumnus.“I think he’s very competitive,” Marino said of Tagovailoa this week during an appearance on the “Fish Tank” podcast. “He understands the game very well. His instinct is there. You can see it: instincts in reading coverage, throwing the ball, getting the ball out on time, all those things. So it was great.”Marino did not make this observation from afar. He serves as a special advisor to the Dolphins and his involvement goes so far as to sometimes attend quarterback meetings. “I’m actually having a lot of fun,” Marino said, “being with the team, with the players, the coaches, everything, Steve Ross, our owner, (CEO) Tom Garfinkel, everyone, (general manager) Chris Grier. Our guys, I love being with all of them and being a part of something that I think could be really special. And that’s why we’re here, right? That’s why we’re here because you want everyone to do well, you want the team to do well, you want all the fans – I’m a fan. I’m there a lot, but I’m still a fan, so I want them to do well. I really like.”Miami went to the AFC playoffs in 2022, but Tagovailoa was unable to compete. Tagovailoa suffered her second concussion of the season during the Dolphins’ 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day and she missed the rest of Miami’s games last season.The Dolphins will face the Dallas Cowboys at 3:25 p.m. CST on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, in a 10-team matchup.A win would give Miami its first 11-win season since 2008 and reserve an AFC playoff spot for the Dolphins. Miami’s most recent playoff victory came on December 30, 2000, when the Dolphins defeated the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 in overtime. Miami has lost its four playoff games since that victory. Jay Fiedler played quarterback for the Dolphins in their winning post-2000 season. He and Tagovailoa are among 25 quarterbacks to start for Miami since Marino retired after the 1999 season. Only one, Ryan Tannehill, who has made 88 starts, has more passing yards for the Dolphins than Tagovailoa, and no one has posted better passing efficiency for Miami than Tagovailoa’s 98.3.
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