Xavien Howard Says Colts Had Tua in 'Panic Mode,' Dolphins QB Had 3 Turnovers in Loss

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a rough start to the 2025 season, throwing a pair of interceptions and losing a fumble in Sunday's 33-8 loss against the Indianapolis Colts.

His former teammate and current Indy cornerback, Xavien Howard, said the Colts had Tagovailoa thoroughly downloaded heading into the matchup.

"We knew the guy, he gets the ball out pretty quick," he told reporters. "And once we take away his first read, I feel like it's panic mode after that. And it showed yesterday. We took away his first read and he was trying to get rid of the ball real quick."

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Colts defensive end Laiatu Latu offered a similar assessment.

"You could just tell with the big eyes and him getting flustered," he told reporters regarding Tagovailoa.

The Colts didn't just have Tagovailoa on tilt, however. The Dolphins finished the game with only 211 yards, while the defense gave up 418 yards and never forced a punt in the game. In total, the Colts held onto the ball for a whopping 38 minutes and 43 seconds.

It was a total team effort, or in the case of Miami, a comprehensive failure.

"It was something left to be desired... there's throws he makes nine times out of 10, and he didn't make them today," head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters regarding Tagovailoa. "Definitely not all on him—too many people failed at the execution of their jobs for him to have anything extra on his shoulders. Like the rest of the team, [his performance] wasn't good enough."

The 27-year-old Tagovailoa remains a divisive figure. Injuries have cost him a lot of time during his career, but when healthy, he's generally been solid, with 15,620 passing yards, 101 touchdowns, 46 interceptions and a 68.0 completion percentage. The Dolphins are 38-25 when he starts and 9-13 when he doesn't since 2020.

The team was particularly dreadful without him last season during a four-game absence in September and October, averaging just 10 points per game while going 1-3. But it's equally concerning that the Dolphins are just 2-3 in his past five starts and looked absolutely dreadful against an Indianapolis Colts team that most pundits expect to be fairly middling this season.

If Tagovailoa's performance against the Colts is a trend and not an outlier, it's going to be a very long season in Miami.