The Houston Texans will face a major challenge against the Miami Dolphins in Week 12, and their biggest hurdle will be slowing down the offense led by Tua Tagovailoa, who has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league this season. Paired with receiving threats like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Mike Gesicki, Tagovailoa has the potential to put up monster numbers against a Texans defense that will be completely outmatched.
Asked about the threat that Tagovailoa poses in the matchup at Houston’s Monday press conference, head coach Lovie Smith told reporters that he is familiar with the quarterback’s game from his time spent coaching at the University of Illinois. Tagovailoa, Smith said, has the Dolphins running like a well-oiled machine, and has all the playmakers to put Miami over the top in any matchup.
“First, what I know about him just from being in the college game and all that, he’s an accurate thrower, more athletic than people probably want to give him credit for, and that’s how he’s played since he’s come back,” Smith explained. “It seemed like forever that he went through that injury, because right now, he’s running an offense that’s running on all cylinders. Of course, wide receiver-wise they have special players. They have a few special players really. But what I saw from watching the video right away was their commitment to the run too. I assumed I would see more 11-personnel groupings, but that’s not the case. It was a little more 21- and run-personnel groupings.”
Houston will enter this game as an overwhelming underdog, their approach to the game is likely to be the same as it has been over the last several weeks. It is growing increasingly evident that the Texans are effectively tanking for draft position, but more than that, the team is focused on improving any possible facet of their game before re-tolling entirely for the 2023 season.
With Smith in control of their defense, Houston will do its best to slow down Tagovailoa as much as possible to give their offense enough breathing room to at least keep this game close for as long as they can.
