NFL betting on Tua's health, Dolphins to perform better in national spotlight
The NFL is betting on Tua Tagovailoa's health.
And the league is betting on the Miami Dolphins to be as good as they should be.
The NFL is betting on Mike McDaniel and Tyreek Hill and Xavien Howard and Jalen Ramsey and Jaylen Waddle and Bradley Chubb and Christian Wilkins and Emmanuel Ogbah and Terron Armstead and Vic Fangio, too.
But, let's be honest.
Tua vs. Mahomes in Germany - an International spotlight! - only works if Tua is available to play.
And Tua vs. Aaron in New Jersey — on Amazon Prime on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day — works only if Tua is available to play.
Tua has said he considered retirement after sustaining at least two concussions last season.
But Tua has also said it's important to him to play and he plans to play and surely fans and teammates and the NFL want badly for Tua to play, too.
The NFL schedule release doesn't drop until Thursday and yet on Wednesday the NFL dropped big-time clues about how they feel about Tua and the Dolphins' talent and popularity, with two Dolphins' stunners.
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This team is much better prepared for the national glare than what we saw in some recent spotlight flops.
NFL television executives have been disappointed by Miami's performance in games they scheduled before the season and, yes, at the end of last year the club failed to flex when flexed into national games.
Tua is one of the most popular players in the league.
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And Tyreek and Jalen sell lots of jerseys, too.
How do you say "jersey" in German?
A quick Google search says, "trikot," but I can double-check with some German relatives.
There's a certain disappointment that Hill's return to Kansas City, well, won't take place in Kansas City.
But for Dolphins fans, at least there's not a home game lost.
Miami has either the second- or fourth-most difficult schedule in the NFL in 2023. It seems to depend on whether you use 2022 opponent win-loss record or 2023 projected win totals in sports books.
Either way, it won't be easy.
But Miami is built for this.
If the franchise is to break through, finally, it will have to go through the likes of Buffalo (twice) and New York (twice) and the Chiefs, Cowboys, Eagles, Ravens, Titans, Giants, Raiders, Chargers and so on and so on.
A murderers' row of opponents, for sure.
But if this is the team that will finally exude greatness, it should not matter.
It should now be less about who the Dolphins play and more about how the Dolphins play.
Because if Tua is healthy and all those other star-caliber players play to their potential, it will be other teams and coaches and fans saying, "Man, we've got the Dolphins this week."
There's no reason Miami can't be top 10 in the NFL in offense and top 10 in defense.
There's no reason Miami shouldn't be neck-and-neck in a battle to top the AFC East.
The Dolphins have won 10, nine and nine games over the past three seasons.
That's solid.
But the NFL expects more from Miami in 2023.
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The NFL sees what we see — one of the NFL's most intriguing teams and one of the NFL's most talented teams.
Miami has failed in its last three trips to Europe.
There was 2015 (loss to Jets), 2017 (loss to Saints) and 2021 (loss to Jaguars).
Ancient history.
Miami failed in the national spotlight last season.
A loss at the Bengals on Amazon Prime, a loss at the Chargers on NBC, a loss at the Bills on NFL Network, a loss to the Packers on Fox on Christmas.
The only channel that didn't feature a Dolphins loss was HGTV.
Again, though, ancient history.
We'll all learn on Thursday exactly how many Thursday night, Sunday night and Monday night games the Dolphins will play in 2023.
Will Miami face Buffalo, Dallas, the Chargers and/or Eagles in two of three of those spots?
Seems logical.
The NFL is counting on Miami to be as good as they should be.
And the NFL, like every Dolphins fan, is hoping Tua is available to play in these games.
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at.jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NFL schedule release 2023: Dolphins, Tua, thrust into national spotlights
