Falcons' preseason finale is making it harder to ignore 1 Tua Tagovailoa issue

The Atlanta Falcons came up victorious in their preseason finale, and nobody should feel better about that than Tua Tagovailoa. The 17-12 victory saw Tua embark on a revenge game against the Miami Dolphins in his return to Miami--where he led the Falcons to a touchdown on the opening drive.

And while the performance was an improvement over his brutal debut in the first week of the preseason, it still wasn't his best body of work. Tagovailoa badly needed a big performance to prove to this coaching staff that he's worthy of being the starter over Michael Penix Jr., which didn't happen.

Instead of taking a step in the right direction as a starting QB decision looms, the 28-year-old's return to Hard Rock Stadium rehashed some old issues and confirmed the Tua Tagovailoa we saw in Miami is nothing but a distant memory--especially since he can't seem to shake some ongoing red flags.

The Falcons are learning what the rest of the NFL already knew about Tua Tagovailoa

The former Pro Bowler completed seven of eight pass attempts for 95 yards on Friday night, but don't be fooled by a promising box score. On all three drives we saw him, Tagovailoa looked scared to attack the Miami defense downfield.

The majority of his passing yards gained came on check-downs--and a Kyle Pitts RPO where Pitts gained all 37 yards after the catch. Speaking of after the catch, 68 of his 95 passing yards came after the catch and he averaged 3.38 air yards per attempt as none of his attempts went over six air yards.

Do you know how rare that is? Those are numbers that come up when someone like Max Brosmer or Skylar Thompson is starting, not a veteran signal-caller who was once one of the best QBs in the NFL. And those numbers certainly don't reflect someone who's fighting to be a Week 1 starter.

And while he's never been the type of signal-caller to light defenses up like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, at least he used to be willing to take shots downfield. At this stage of his career he's been so battered by injury that he has such a risk-averse play style--and still turns the football over often.

Speaking of turnovers, this is not even the only issue that came up. For the second time this preseason, Tua fumbled a snap and the Dolphins recovered. He got lucky against the Broncos, but not this time--and it's particularly alarming that his ability to cough up the football has been constant.

The Dirty Birds signed Tua to bank on a carer turnaround in a better situation, but it's becoming clear why there wasn't a market for him. Being able to him for the league minimum wasn't some stroke of good luck--it was the rest of the NFL already being aware of what the Falcons are finding out.

Frankly, a turnover-prone QB unable to throw the ball over 10 air yards has no business being a starter. As if it wasn't already evident, Michael Penix Jr. deserves to start as the higher upside option, and Tua Tagovailoa has no business being a starting quarterback in the NFL.

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