Tua Tagovailoa says Dolphins' struggles vs. Saints 'start with me'

When the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints jogged into the locker rooms at halftime, it seemed the home team was set to cruise to an easy win. While they were forced to settle for three field goals, the Dolphins had a 16-0 lead against a Saints team that couldn't do much of anything.

Instead, the Dolphins' 21-17 win was a little too close for comfort down the stretch.

Miami's offense didn't score any touchdowns after De'Von Achane ran in from 29 yards in the first four minutes of the game. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished the game with only 157 passing yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a 55.9 passer rating.

"It definitely starts with me, starts with my performance with how I distribute the ball, how I operate the guys," Tagovailoa said of the Dolphins' offensive struggles. "When I'm able to distribute the ball well, the [offense does] well, and the run game helps with that. So as I said, that starts with me."

Tagovailoa's interception was a lob deep into double coverage immediately following a takeaway by the Dolphins defense.

Similar interceptions on deep throws to Jaylen Waddle were shrugged off by Tagovailoa and Dolphins coaches as arm punts by design. The quarterback didn't say that was the case Sunday, though.

"It was just a bad decision," Tagovailoa said. "That's all that was. I just got to be smart with the ball."

The pick was the 14th of the season thrown by Tagovailoa, who entered Week 13 tied with the Las Vegas Raiders' Geno Smith for the league lead. It ties a career-high for Tagovailoa, who had 29 touchdowns to go with 14 interceptions during the 2023 season. This season, he has 17 touchdowns.

This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Tua Tagovailoa says Dolphins' struggles vs. Saints 'start with me'