Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa throwing bombs, no-look passes for TDs

  • Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPNSep 24, 2023, 01:20 PM ET

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    Marcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins‘ league-leading offense didn’t need long to get on the board Sunday against the Denver Broncos, and it didn’t stop after the first strike.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took advantage of a clean pocket and a busted coverage, finding wide receiver Tyreek Hill for the 54-yard touchdown on the third play of the game. Broncos safety Delarrin Turner-Yell, starting in place of injured all-pro Justin Simmons, collapsed on Robbie Chosen‘s in-breaking route and collided with cornerback Patrick Surtain II — leaving Hill wide open down field.

The score marked Hill’s NFL-leading fourth receiving touchdown of the season. He scored seven in 17 games last season. He became the first Dolphins player since Randy McMichael in 2005 to have a receiving touchdown in each of the first three games of a season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The only other Dolphins to do it are Mark Duper and Mark Clayton, who each did it in 1984.

After scoring his first career touchdown on the Dolphins’ second drive of the game, rookie running back De’Von Achane added to his total on a pass from Tagovailoa on their following drive. The lefty Tagovailoa elicited gasps throughout Hard Rock Stadium on the play — a no-look shovel pass with his right hand. Achane powered his way into the end zone from there for the 4-yard score.

Tagovailoa was perfect in the first half, 16-of-16 for 206 yards and a 158.3 passer rating. The last NFL QB with a 100% completion rate, 200 passing yards and two touchdowns in the first half was Arizona’s Carson Palmer in Week 6 of the 2017 season against the Bucs (13-13, 211 yds, 2 TD), according to ESPN Sports & Info.

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