Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins aren’t letting go of their playoff hopes yet. Although the chances are slim, Tua and Co. are confident they’ll make it, possibly as a wildcard. The Tua Tagovailoa-led Dolphins just secured their 7th win against the 49ers in Week 16. Mike is proud of his guys for pulling off this win. And even though their chances of making the playoffs are slim, the HC still believes his team has a shot. 

While addressing the media after the win, Mike shared, “The season’s not over for our team. We live to fight another day.” Looks like he believes that his team still has some fight left in them. The Dolphins have been taking a lot of heat from NFL fans this season. It’s like that in this league, you lose a game, and fans are ready to tear you down. Play badly in a game, and everyone’s ready to call you out. That’s pretty much been the story for Tua Tagovailoa’s squad this season, with them being inconsistent in picking up wins. “You talk about fighting for something when so many people gave you negative reinforcement to not. So many people told you who you were and you had this opportunity today and as a team, we got to decide who we are,” said the HC to his guys after the win. 

Week 16 proved to be a sigh of relief for the Phins. Their QB Tua Tagovailoa scored one touchdown, racking up 215 yards, while RB De’Von Achane also found the end zone. On the other hand, despite their QB scoring two touchdowns, the 49ers came up short. But they weren’t the only ones making mistakes. Mike’s squad had their share of mistakes. Believe it or not, Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill had a couple of key drops.

The Dolphins QB addressed those mistakes in the post-game conference, saying that he and Hill need more reps to get on the same page.

Tua Tagovailoa feels he needs more reps with Tyreek Hill

In the post-game press conference, Tua Tagovailoa talked about the need for more reps with WR Tyreek Hill. “Me and him need more reps. That’s the secret sauce to me being able to connect with all these guys… that has a lot to do with reps for sure,” said Tua after leading his team to win. And Mike happily agreed to his QB Tua Tagovailoa’s request. You get the coach wins; you get what you want. Fair deal! ” You’re trying to rest guys and do what’s best for their body. The adjustment to getting more reps with Tua is an easy one. You hate for guys to feel like they’re not properly tooled in any situation,” said the Dolphins HC.  

Tua’s not the only one asking for more reps. Dolphins star WR Tyreek Hill also mentioned it, explaining why he dropped a few catches. He dropped three passes in the game, two of which would’ve been TDs if he hadn’t missed them. “I feel like, at the end of the day, I need those valuable reps with Tua,” said Hill. While Tua and Tyreek are talking about the need for more reps, the fans aren’t buying it. It feels like, even after a win, the duo has just drawn more criticism with this whole ‘rep’ situation.

“This is week 16 and yall need more reps?! Hope about you guys start in the off-season and work from there. Whole team don’t practice all week,” wrote a user on X. The Dolphins have two games left for them. One against the Browns in week 17 and another against the ‘unlucky’ Jets. Stay tuned to see if the Dolphins make the push Coach Mike is talking about.