Tua Tagovailoa was slammed for his performance for the Miami Dolphins as they lost a crucial game to the San Francisco 49ers.

This season has been something of a ‘coming out party’ for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Having been drafted in 2020, he didn’t get the starting job until Week 7 of his rookie season, and even then it was a little bit of a tricky time as he found himself benched briefly midway through the year.

Then 2021 was another odd year for him, having been named the starter from the outset, it was a bad start for the Dolphins as they went 1-7 to start the year, not helped by Tagovailoa suffering an injury early on, and when he came back, they won 8 of their last 9 games (Tagovailoa starting 7 of them) to get to 9-8 and give themselves a solid platform to build on for 2022.

And build on it they have. In no small part to the addition of 2x All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill and head coach Mike McDaniel, they have become one of the most electric teams in the entire NFL, with Tagovailoa racking up 284.9 passing yards per game and throwing for 19 touchdowns heading into their game this weekend.

Those performances had helped the Dolphins to an 8-3 record as they headed to face the resurgent San Francisco 49ers in a game that was going to have a major impact on the playoff pictures in both conferences.

Tua Tagovailoa comes up a little two short

The Dolphins were handed something of a boost early in the game when the 49ers’ starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out of the game, meaning they had to go up against Brock Purdy, the Mr Irrelevant (the last player drafted) in the 2022 NFL Draft, but just couldn’t produce enough on offense to get the job done.

It was a day of twos for Tagovailoa, as he threw for 295 yards, and whilst he did throw for two touchdowns, he did also throw two interceptions and just as the game was about to hit the two minjte warning and with the Dolhpins down by two scores, he coughed up a fumble that sealed the game for the 49ers.

Video: Tua Tagovailoa fumbles the ball against the San Francisco 49ers:

His performance in what was arguably the biggest game that the Dolphins have played this year, clearly didn’t sit well with a lot of people on social media, as they tore into the 24-year-old, with some using the status of his opposing quarterback as a stick to beat him with:

The Purdy thing does come across as a bit harsh, because Tagovailoa couldn’t really do anything to stop him. You just have to hope this, and the injury that he appeared to suffer during the game, doesn’t impact the rest of their season too much, as this really has been something special for the team from South Beach.