Nothing matters more to the Dolphins this season than keeping Tua Tagovailoa healthy. Tagovailoa is currently the leading Most Valuable Player candidate, but the Dolphins know all too well that a concussion — or, like last year, multiple concussions — could derail his season and the team’s season.
Which makes it very good news that Tagovailoa is avoiding sacks like never before.
Through three games this season, Tagovailoa has thrown 101 passes and only been sacked once. That rate of getting sacked on 0.98 percent of his dropbacks is a huge improvement from his career average, which was a sack on 5.36 percent of his dropbacks.
It’s also a historic start to a season — with one sack on 101 passes, Tagovailoa is getting sacked at precisely the same rate as another Dolphins quarterback, Dan Marino, in 1988. That year Marino took six sacks and threw 606 passes, and that season is regarded by many as the single best season ever for any quarterback at avoiding the pass rush. Marino was acclaimed for his quick release and ability to read defenses and make them pay for blitzing him, and Tagovailoa is doing the same thing this year.
Tagovailoa took jiu-jitsu lessons during the offseason to learn how to fall properly, with the hopes that when he gets taken down, he’ll be able to avoid his helmet hitting the ground. But even better than getting taken down properly is not getting taken down at all. And through three games this season, Tagovailoa is doing a remarkable job of avoiding sacks.
