The Miami Dolphins hosted the Buffalo Bills in a big AFC East game on Thursday night, but what many were hoping would be a competitive and entertaining Thursday night game quickly turned into a complete rout for the Bills.
Buffalo took a 24-10 lead into halftime on three Tua Tagovailoa interceptions, and the Dolphins offense lacked the explosiveness on the field that makes it so dangerous. Buffalo extended that lead to 31-10 in the third quarter, and then disaster struck for Tagovailoa and the Dolphins as they encroached deep into Bills territory. On 4th-and-4, Tagovailoa raced up the middle for a first down, but dove head-first into a defender while scrambling for more yards and went into an apparent fencing reaction as he fell to the ground (video here).
Players on both sides of the ball quickly called to the bench for medical attention, and Tagovailoa eventually left the field on his own. However, he was quickly sidelined with a concussion, his fourth in three years. Three of those came in the 2022 season, including a horrific scene in Cincinnati when he suffered his second concussion in as many weeks and had to be carted off the field. That left him considering retirement for health reasons, but he chose to continue playing and became more cautious about taking hits in the 2023 season. Hopefully, he can make a full and quick recovery from his latest concussion, but both he and the Dolphins will be extremely cautious going forward given his history of head injuries.