How Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins made 21-point fourth quarter comeback to stun the Ravens and spoil Lamar Jackson’s historic performance

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The Ravens entered the fourth quarter of their Week 2 battle with the Dolphins feeling good.

Baltimore held a 35-14 lead over Miami and was enjoying a dominant day from quarterback Lamar Jackson. It looked like they would be able to go into cruise control and enjoy an easy victory.

Instead, the Dolphins came roaring back. They outscored the Ravens 28-3 in the final quarter to improve to 2-0 on the season. It marked the NFL’s first fourth-quarter comeback of 21+ points in 12 years; per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, teams were 0-711 when trailing by at least 21 points in the fourth quarter from 2011 to 2022 before the Dolphins’ win.

Miami’s improbable comeback was keyed by its young quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, who enjoyed the best game of his young career. He threw a career-high six touchdowns and was at his best in the fourth quarter, throwing strike after strike to his top two receivers, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

That included the final touchdown of the game, which was a perfectly placed throw from Tagovailoa to Waddle.

How did the Dolphins position themselves to beat the Ravens? Here’s a look at the plays that catalyzed their comeback win over Baltimore.

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Inside the Dolphins’ comeback win over the Ravens

The Dolphins beat the Ravens with a great performance in the fourth quarter. Here’s a look at the scoring plays they logged and the key role that Tagovailoa played in the rally.

Tua Tagovailoa finds River Cracraft for a 2-yard touchdown

Miami’s comeback started innocently enough. The Dolphins mounted a seven-play, 75-yard drive that began in the third quarter and ran through the fourth quarter to first dent Baltimore’s lead. Tagovailoa was accurate on the drive, which was kickstarted by a 33-yard completion to Waddle on its second play.

The Dolphins eventually matriculated their way into the red zone and got down to the 2-yard line. That’s when Tagovailoa found Cracraft for a short score with 12:12 left in the quarter.

That cut Baltimore’s lead to 14, and demonstrated something that the Dolphins did well during the second half. They were able to consistently move the ball on the Baltimore defense. They took what they were given and were able to make the halftime adjustments needed to compete with John Harbaugh’s defense.

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Tua Tagovailoa hits Tyreek Hill for two deep scores

One question many had about Tagovailoa entering the 2022 season was whether he would be able to connect with Hill frequently enough on deep passes to take advantage of his skills. Patrick Mahomes frequently launched passes to Hill, but would Tagovailoa be able to do the same?

The short answer is yes. Tagovailoa was accurate on the deep ball in Week 2 and that allowed him to use Hill to the best of his abilities. The veteran scored his first two Dolphins touchdowns in the fourth quarter on receptions of 48 and 60 yards.

The first catch saw Hill get behind the Ravens’ defense cleanly and Tagovailoa launch a pass to him. Hill had to slow to a stop to make the catch, but he had plenty of room to do so.

The second saw cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis sag off Hill and allow him to run past him. Presumably, he thought he had safety help. He didn’t, so Hill was wide open on the play.

And this time, Tagovailoa hit him in stride.

The connection between Hill and Tagovailoa was fruitful on Sunday, as Hill logged 11 catches, 190 yards and two touchdowns on 13 targets. That the two have developed chemistry quickly β€” and that Tagovailoa isn’t afraid to take shots downfield to Hill β€” is a good sign for the Dolphins’ offense at the early stage of the Mike McDaniel era.

Tagovailoa’s ball placement on throw to Jaylen Waddle wins the game

As mentioned earlier, Tagovailoa connected with Waddle on the game-winning score with just 14 seconds left on the clock. That play was a microcosm of their connection during the contest.

Tagovailoa targeted Waddle more than any receiver on the field. He sent a whopping 19 targets Waddle’s way and the receiver brought in 11 of them for 171 yards and two touchdowns. That made Waddle and Hill the first teammates in NFL history to record at least 10 catches, 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the same game.

Like Waddle, Tagovailoa wasn’t afraid to target Waddle on deep passes. However, he also gave his top receiver plenty of opportunities to make contested catches. He did this by delivering passes with near-perfect ball placement that allowed only Waddle to make catches.

We saw that on the final touchdown of the day and saw it at other points too, like when Mike Gesicki caught a touchdown in the third quarter. On that play, Tagovailoa threw the ball high to a place that only Gesicki could catch it; if he hadn’t, it would have sailed out of the end zone.

Tagovailoa’s accuracy was strong and it should help him in the red zone in particular. One of the reasons that the Dolphins were able to score on all of their red zone possessions, including the final one, was Tagovailoa’s high-level ball placement.

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Tua Tagovailoa’s stats vs. the Ravens

Tagovailoa’s strong performance on the field was backed up by his box score stats. He posted career-best marks in passing yards (469) and passing touchdowns (six) with the latter mark being tied for the second-most in NFL history.

Tagovailoa also posted a passer rating of 124.1, the best mark of his career, and completed a career-high 36 passes. Below is a look at all of his notable stats against the Ravens.

Stat Total
Completions 36
Attempts 50
Passing yards 469
Pass TDs 6
INTs 2
Passer rating 124.1

Lamar Jackson’s stats vs. the Dolphins

Tagovailoa’s performance wasn’t the only excellent one among quarterbacks in Sunday’s Ravens vs. Dolphins game. Jackson put forth an elite outing and was missing just one thing from his final stat line: a win.

Jackson had one of the best outings of his career against the Dolphins. He was excellent as a passer, recording 318 yards and three touchdowns through the air, but he also performed well on the ground.

Jackson ran for 119 yards on Sunday. He had a 79-yard touchdown run and was a true dual threat during the contest. He also passed Michael Vick for the most games with 100 or more rushing yards in NFL history with his effort.

Indeed, it was an MVP-caliber performance for Jackson. His team just couldn’t finish the job. Much of the blame for that will fall on Baltimore’s defense, but Jackson will be kicking himself for not logging more sustained drives during the fourth quarter.

Still, he did a lot to bolster his positioning in contract negotiations with this performance.

Here is a look at Jackson’s full stat line from Sunday’s battle with the Dolphins:

Stat Total
Comp. % 72.4
Passing yards 316
Pass TDs 3
INTs 0
Passer rating 142.6
Rushing yards 119
Rush TDs 1
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