That late interception thrown by the Miami Dolphins‘ Tua Tagovailoa on Thursday was his 10th turnover in as many games against the Bills. Not to mention, the ripple effect it had on the final scoreline, which went in the Bills’ favor at 31-21, and pushed the Fins into the 0-3 ditch that seems too deep to climb out of. Yet, if fingers are to be pointed, the quarterback cannot be the sole target.

In fact, according to former NFL DE Marcus Spears, Tagovailoa is far from the problem. “I don’t think you can get rid of the quarterback,” he said. “I think he plays well enough for you to still feel like you can get something going.” The issue is something else altogether.

“Miami doesn’t run the ball well anymore,” Spears continued. “And they had some runs last night. That was really good physical runs, but it feels like this offense has become one-dimensional a little bit. And they depend on obviously Tua making throw after throw after throw and trying to get the ball in Jaylen Waddle’s hands and trying to get it in Tyreek’s hand and see if they can be dynamic, and that’s something that Mike McDaniel is going to have to fix as an offensive coordinator.” 

Spears isn’t off the mark. After all, the numbers don’t lie.

The Bills posted 157 rushing yds to the Dolphins’ 130. The Bills’ offense, led by a QB who breaks a record every week, had 360 total yds and a dominant time of possession of 31:47. The Fins, meanwhile, had only 276 yds and had the ball for just 28:13. Mike McDaniel’s men are currently languishing at 25th in the league in rushing stats with an average of just 89.7 yds per game. 

It’s a problem that has spilled over from last season, when they finished 21st on the rushing leaderboard. The lack of a consistent ground game has put the entire burden on Tua’s arm and the dynamic playmaking of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. The result? A 1 TD, 49-yard night for Hill. 

McDaniel, after the late-game INT by Tua Tagovailoa, stepped up to the podium and said the QB “has to be responsible for it,” But that’s only half the story.

McDaniel on Tua Tagovailoa’s performance

“However,” he continued, “I wish I could just put it on him. It’s a tough job to do when there’s someone in your face. Everybody needs to do better.” On that game-sealing interception, the play itself was an absolute train wreck. As Tagovailoa took a step back upon receiving the snap, Bills’ rookie DT Deone Walker made short work of the man across from him on the Fins O-line and put enough pressure on the QB to force a rushed pass that got plucked right out of the air by Bills’ linebacker Terrel Bernard, sealing the 21-31 defeat. 

Consider this: six of the coaches hired in the same year as McDaniel have already been fired. A loss to the Bills, a team many see as a Super Bowl contender, might not be the nail in the coffin. But a potential Week 4 loss on Monday Night Football to the Jets?

That, according to ESPN’s Peter Schrager, “is when we really start talking about this.” The players, however, seem to be rallying behind their coach, or at least that’s what NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported. “No one expressed panic and no one said they’ve quit on their head coach.”

Tyreek Hill (is he being traded?) said: “Do you want to be remembered for throwing in the towel? Or do you want to be remembered as the team that started 0-3 and turned it around?” But the bigger question is: Can they turn it around?