NFL

Details on Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion, plus NFL Week 2 picks and players under most pressure this week

by
SaC Bot
September 13, 2024

Welcome to the Friday edition of the Pick Six newsletter.

As the NFL gets ready to head into the second Sunday of the season, all eyes are on Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins quarterback suffered a concussion on Thursday night during Miami’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo. It’s the third concussion of Tua’s career.

We’ll be taking a look at what this injury might mean for Tua’s future in today’s newsletter, plus we’ll be handing out some grades for the game.

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.

1. Tua Tagovailoa suffers serious injury: Dolphins QB goes down with third career concussion

The biggest headline to come out of Thursday’s game is that Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion during the second half of Miami’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo.

Here’s what we know:

Tua forced to leave game. The injury to Tua happened with just over four minutes left to play in the third quarter. On the play, the Dolphins were facing a fourth-and-4 from Buffalo’s 13-yard line. With no one open, Tua decided to take off and he got the first down, but instead of sliding to the ground, he ran head first into Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin (You can see the tackle here). After falling to the ground, Tua’s right arm showed the fencing posture, which is one of the major signs of a concussion. Although Tua was able to talk off the field, he was immediately taken to Miami’s locker room and ruled out of the game.
Tua’s concussion history. This marks the third time that Tua has suffered a concussion. The previous two both happened during the 2022 season and Tua ended up missing a total of five games (He missed two games after the first concussion and three after the second one). Based on his injury history, it seems almost certain that he’ll miss several weeks at the minimum. The Dolphins do have a Week 6 bye, which means if Tua were to sit Week 3 (Seahawks), Week 4 (Titans) and Week 5 (Patriots), he’d get an extra week on top of that. If Miami went that route, Tua would get five weeks to heal and wouldn’t return until Oct. 20 against the Colts. That being said, he could be out much longer with CBS Sports HQ injury expert Marty Jaramillo suggesting that Tua could miss eight to 12 weeks.
Mike McDaniel offers no recovery timeline. After the game, the Dolphins coach made it clear that he’s not thinking about when Tua might be able to return to the field, “Right now it’s more about getting a proper procedural evaluation [on Friday] and taking it one day at a time,” McDaniel said. “The furthest thing from my mind is what is the timeline. We just need to evaluate and I’m just worried about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are. But we’ll get more information [on Friday] and then take it day by day from there.”
Tua considered retirement after the 2022 season. Although Tua was only out for five games in 2022, the concussions were serious enough that he considered retirement. In April 2023, Tua was asked if he had thought about retiring due to his concussions and he admitted that retirement had actually been on his mind. “I think I considered it for a time,” Tua said. Now that he’s suffered a third concussion, it would be certainly possible that he once again mulls over this option.
Dolphins options at QB. After Tua went out, Skylar Thompson came in to finish the game. If Tua is only going to be out a few weeks, Thompson will likely continue to play, but if he’s going to be out longer, the Dolphins might look to bring someone in. One option could be a reunion with Ryan Tannehill, who’s currently a free agent. We also took a look at four other options that you can see here. For now though, McDaniel said on Friday that the team will be moving forward with Thompson, although they’ll likely add another QB for depth.

We have a full story on Tua’s injury and you can check it out here.

2. Grading the Bills‘ blowout win over Miami

If we learned one thing on Thursday night, it’s that the Bills still own the Dolphins. Thanks to their 31-10 win over Miami, the Bills have now won 12 of their past 13 games against the Dolphins.

Here are our grades from last night’s game:

BILLS GRADE: A-

The Bills have won six straight games against the Dolphins and when they win, it’s usually because of Josh Allen, but on Thursday, the Bills QB essentially got the night off. The Bills rode their defense to the win and they also got some big help from James Cook on the offensive side of the ball. Cook had a breakout game that saw him total 95 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 touches. Cook was the offensive spark on a night when the Bills didn’t need Allen to go off (He threw for 139 yards and rushed for just two). Defensively, the Bills beat up on Miami’s speedy offense. The defense picked off Tua Tagovailoa three times, with two of those coming from Ja’Marcus Ingram, who had a pick-six in the third quarter. Sean McDermott just seems to be one step ahead of Mike McDaniel at all times whenever these two teams play. The Bills have won five straight AFC East titles, and with this win, they proved that the division title is once again going to go through Buffalo.

Bills notes

Josh Allen doesn’t lose on Thursday night. The Bills quarterback is unbeatable on Thursday nights. Allen went into the game with a 6-0 career record and he’s now 7-0 after leading the Bills to another win. Allen is now tied with Carson Wentz for the most Thursday night wins in NFL history without a loss.
James Cook has breakout game. The Bills running back had three touchdowns and they all came in the FIRST HALF, which made him the first Bills running back since Thurman Thomas in 1992 to score three touchdowns in the first half of a game.

DOLPHINS GRADE: D

This was an ugly performance from top-to-bottom, starting with Mike McDaniel, who was completely out-coached by Sean McDermott. The Dolphins’ offense sputtered against the Bills defense with Tua Tagovailoa throwing three interceptions, including an ugly pick-six in the third quarter. The other two picks weren’t Tua’s fault, but they happened because the Dolphins passing game was out of sync (Tyreek Hill has just three catches for 24 yards). Besides the turnovers, the Dolphins offense also failed on four big fourth down plays and they only scored a touchdown on one of their four trips to the red zone. Basically, every time the Dolphins needed to come up with a big play, they couldn’t do it. The Dolphins defense actually held the Bills to under 250 yards, but that effort went to waste, because Miami couldn’t do anything on offense.

Dolphins notes

Dolphins dealing with a lot of injuries. Besides Tagovailoa, the Dolphins also lost two offensive linemen on Thursday night with Terron Armstead (shoulder) and Robert Jones (shoulder) both being forced to leave due to injury. Jeff Wilson (oblique) was also lost to an injury in the game.

You can check out our full takeaways from the game here.

3. Players and coaches under the most pressure heading into Week 2

When you come out of the gate and fall on your face in Week 1, that puts quite a lot of pressure on you to bounce back with a big showing in Week 2. With that in mind, Jeff Kerr decided to take a look at several players and coaches around the NFL who are under the most pressure this week after flopping in Week 1.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor. “The Bengals have not been strong starters under Taylor, and the Week 1 loss to the Patriots further proved that point. The Bengals have lost six straight games in Weeks 1 and 2, and their offense has typically looked stale to start the year. A loss in Week 2 could make Taylor’s seat hot, even if it doesn’t have to be.”
Falcons QB Kirk Cousins. “Cousins looked like a 36-year-old quarterback coming off a ruptured Achilles in his Falcons debut, completing 61.5% of his passes for 155 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions (59.0 rating) in a Week 1 loss to the Steelers. … Cousins will be given some time to work out the kinks in the offense, but the Falcons should be better with a quarterback they gave $180 million guaranteed. There’s also Michael Penix waiting for an opportunity to unseat Cousins. Cousins needs a good performance to erase some doubts about the signing.”
Giants QB Daniel Jones. “Since the start of last season, Jones has thrown more touchdown passes to the other team (3) than he has to his own team (2). Jones is 1-7 with two pass touchdowns in his last eight starts after he had two passing touchdowns in a 2022 Wild Card win at the Vikings (the Giants have been outscored 249-81 in those eight games). The Giants simply aren’t competitive with Jones, yet he has a chance to save his job against a team he’s actually had success (Washington Commanders). Not only does Jones need a win (5-1-1 against Washington in career), he needs to play well in order to halt the quarterback talk for at least one more week.”

Kerr’s list includes a total of five players and if you want to see who else is facing some major pressure in Week 2, then check out his full story here.

4. NFL Week 2 picks: Browns and Bengals fall to 0-2

The opening week of the season can be tough to predict, but we made it out alive. We have five NFL writers — Pete Prisco, along with Will Brinson, Jordan Dajani, Tyler Sullivan and myself — handing out picks every week and for the opening week of the season, we combined to go 3-2 with the picks that we offered in the newsletter.

If you’re new here, here’s how things work: I’ll give you one Week 2 pick from each writer and then direct you to the rest of their picks for the week. That way, if you like their pick, you’ll be able to click over and check out all of their Week 2 picks, but if you hate their pick, you can ignore the rest of their picks and move on with your life.

Pete Prisco — Jaguars (-3) 24-19 over Browns. From Prisco: “The Jaguars blew a fourth-quarter lead in losing to the Dolphins, while Cleveland was mauled at home by Dallas. Deshaun Watson was awful. This is a tough ask to bounce back on the road against a Jaguars defense that slowed Miami. Look for Jacksonville to get in the win column. ” For the rest of Prisco’s Week 2 picks, be sure to click here.
Tyler Sullivan — Cowboys (-6.5) 30-20 over Saints. From Sullivan: “I trust the Cowboys talent — specifically on defense — more than the Saints. It’s also worth pointing out that the Cowboys were sensational at AT&T Stadium in 2023. Dak Prescott and Co. had six wins last season by 20 or more points at home. The Cowboys are also 6-1 ATS in their last seven games as a favorite of at least five points.” For the rest of Sullivan’s Week 2 picks, be sure to click here.
Will Brinson — Broncos (+3) to cover against Steelers. From Brinson: “The Broncos probably aren’t a great football team (we’ll see!) and Bo Nix can’t throw downfield (again, we’ll see!). But they’re at home, with a massive elevation advantage that’s played out early in the season. Also, Mike Tomlin has never beaten Sean Payton head to head, going 0-3 against the Broncos head coach.” For the rest of Brinson’s Week 2 best bets, be sure to click here.
Jordan Dajani — Chiefs (-5.5) 30-23 over Bengals. From Dajani: “Joe Burrow is 3-1 against Patrick Mahomes, but he’s just 1-8 in his career in Weeks 1-2. Mahomes on the other hand is 11-2 in Weeks 1-2. The Bengals looked pitiful at home against the team many considered to be the worst in the NFL in Week 1, and now we expect them to turn it around in Arrowhead with Tee Higgins still dealing with a hamstring injury? Plus, is Burrow’s right wrist OK? With this number under six, I’ll say the reigning Super Bowl champions cover.” For the rest of Dajani’s Week 2 best bets, be sure to click here.
John Breech — Patriots (+3) 19-16 over Seahawks. I have no idea how good either of these teams are, but I do know this: The Seahawks have to fly across the country in Week 2 for a game that kicks off at 10 a.m. on their body clocks. The Seahawks are 2-5 in their past seven games that have kicked off at 10 a.m. on their body clocks. Oh, and this is the Patriots’ home opener, which I think might spark them just enough to upset the Sehawks. For the rest of my Week 2 picks, be sure to click here.

For more Week 2 NFL picks, you can check out out our CBSSports.com picks page here.

5. NFL bold predictions for Week 2

After giving you some bold predictions for the ENTIRE SEASON last week, we’re going to tone things down this week and only give you bold predictions for the upcoming slate of games. Garrett Podell came up with five bold predictions for Week 2 and he’s got some pretty wild ones that just might hit.

Here’s a look at his predictions for Week 2:

1. Packers QB Malik Willis outduels Colts QB Anthony Richardson. “This is understandably bold as Willis hasn’t shown he can be a dropback passer. … However, he looked much more polished as a passer in the 2024 preseason in Tennessee, providing hope for major improvement. Willis showcases that improvement in head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense filled with young weapons against an AFC South team he has seen a lot of film of in his two years with the Titans while leading Green Bay to victory against his old squad.”
2. Baker Mayfield throws at least 3 TD passes in upset win over Lions. “The Lions won both matchups against the Buccaneers in 2023, including the NFC Divisional Round. This game is also being played in Detroit, which is why the Lions are 7.5-point home favorites. However, Baker Mayfield is going to do something he didn’t do last season: lead the Buccaneers to victory against Detroit. Yeah, he picked on a bad Washington Commanders defense in Week 1, throwing for an NFL-high four touchdowns last week, but that’s kind of who Mayfield is now. He’s thrown 18 touchdowns to only four interceptions in his last seven games played, including the playoffs. Why is Mayfield so on fire? Simple. He is finally on the same page with his top two targets, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.”
3. Cardinals upset the Rams. “Rams head coach Sean McVay is 12-2 in the regular season against the Cardinals, which is absolute dominance. However, his squad is walking wounded. The Rams placed Pro Bowl wide receiver Puka Nacua and two offensive line starters, left tackle Joe Noteboom and center Steve Avila, on injured reserve this week. … With the 49ers up next, this feels like a trap game for the Rams, and the Cardinals fly through this matchup with the win.”

Garrett made a total of five bold predictions for Week 2 and you check out all of them here.

6. Extra points: Bengals already trash-talking the Chiefs

It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

Xavier Worthy takes verbal shot from Bengals. In January 2023, the Bengals came up with “Burrowhead” and it backfired. This year, they’re calling out Xavier Worthy. During an interview this week, Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt said the speedy Worthy can’t really do anything except for “run straight.” There’s a 100% chance that Andy Reid is now going to make sure that Worthy scores two touchdowns against the Bengals on Sunday. You can read Taylor-Britt’s full comments here.
Hollywood Brown headed for surgery: The Chiefs will be without their speedy wide receiver for at least the next four games and probably a lot more after Brown was placed on injured reserve, per NFL Media, ahead of shoulder surgery. Brown was injured in the preseason opener and missed the Chiefs’ Week 1 victory against the Ravens.
Tee Higgins not happy with speculation that he’s faking an injury. Three days before the NFL season started, Tee Higgins said he felt the best he’s ever felt going into the a season. However, he didn’t play in Week 1, which has led fans to speculate that he might be faking an injury because he’s unhappy with his contract status. The Bengals receiver responded to those claims on Thursday. “I just don’t understand why fans think I’m faking an injury, when for me to get an extension for a contract, the deadline is over,” Higgins told ESPN. “I just don’t understand why they think I’m faking an injury. It doesn’t make sense to me.” The receiver has a point here: With Higgins likely to become a free agent, he needs to have a big season to maximize his value and it won’t help him get top dollar if teams believe that he’s injury prone.
NFLPA not happy with Chiefs handling of Kyle Van Noy injury. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell has weighed in on the situation involving Kyle Van Noy and he’s not very happy about it. “I think this was an unfortunate situation where that did not occur,” Howell said. “Thank God for Kyle’s situation [that] it wasn’t worse. But here we are with the first game of the season, we got many more games to play. We just can’t have that.” Van Noy suffered a fractured orbital bone in Week 1 and it took nearly 45 minutes before the Chiefs’ ophthalmologist was able to see him. You can read more about Van Noy’s situation here.