Though he started the game with a 75-yard touchdown pass, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has struggled through much of Sunday’s matchup against the 49ers.
But after Tagovailoa launched a 45-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Miami is back in it, trailing San Francisco 23-17.
Tagovailoa entered the game having gone months without throwing an interception, with his last pick coming in September. But the quarterback threw picks on back-to-back passing attempts in the third quarter.
The first went to defensive back Jimmie Ward, who dove over an offensive player to secure the takeaway. After the 49ers put up a field goal off of it, Tagovailoa’s next pass was too high for receiver Tyreek Hill and was intercepted by defensive back Deommodore Lenoir.
The 49ers got just a field goal off of that, too.
Tagovailoa finally got going on the next drive. He opened the fourth quarter with a 19-yard pass to Hill. Then on the next play, Tagovailoa launched a deep ball to Hill, who had plenty of separation near the goal line and caught it for a 45-yard score.
The 49ers are playing without Jimmy Garoppolo, who suffered a foot injury in the first quarter and was ruled out. But the club will likely have to score again to be any sort of comfortable against Miami’s explosive offense late in the fourth quarter.
