Tua Tagovailoa expressed mild concern this week about not wanting the Miami Dolphins’ bye to interrupt the momentum they had built during a recent winning streak.
Some bye-week rust showed in Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans with errant throws and drops, especially early. But Tagovailoa and the offense figured things out — quickly enough, in fact, for Tagovailoa to call it a day before the third quarter ended.
Tagovailoa threw for 299 yards and the Miami Dolphins raced to a 30-point lead before holding on for their fifth straight win, a 30-15 victory over the lowly Texans.
“We could have finished a lot of drives better … but that’s always tough when your team is hot and then you go into a bye week,” Tagovailoa said. “You try to come back on a week like this to find whatever that feeling was that you guys had with that momentum.”
Tagovailoa had his fourth straight game without an interception, Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill each had 85 yards receiving and the Dolphins’ defense had three takeaways in a game that was a 30-point blowout at halftime.
Tagovailoa finished 22-of-36 passing with a TD. He now has 11 touchdowns since returning from a concussion in Week 7. Skylar Thompson was 1 for 5 for 6 yards in relief for the Dolphins (8-3).
In the first quarter, Waddle broke Miami’s franchise record for the most receiving yards (1,926) in the first two seasons of a career. Jarvis Landry, now with New Orleans, previously held the mark.
Allen was 26-of-39 passing with 215 yards and two interceptions.
Standout rookie running back Dameon Pierce was held to 8 yards on five carries for Houston, a week after he had just 8 in a loss to the Commanders.
Waddle had a 22-yard catch on the opening drive to set up Miami’s first score — a 45-yard Jason Sanders field goal — and Tagovailoa found tight end Durham Smythe in the end zone later in the quarter to give Miami a 10-0 lead.
Miami added four scores in the second quarter, including two off turnovers.
Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel intercepted Allen deep in Texans territory and returned the ball to the 3-yard line. Running back Jeff Wilson punched it in. In the second quarter, cornerback Xavien Howard returned a fumble, which was forced by safety Eric Rowe, for a touchdown.
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