Tua Tagovailoa's Preseason Finale Leaves Falcons With No Clear Answer

MIAMI GARDENS – Tua Tagovailoa did just about everything the Atlanta Falcons needed Friday night, just not enough to end the quarterback competition.

After Tagovailoa’s last preseason showing ended in disaster, the Falcons were hoping to see more from the veteran. Altogether, he was efficient, if unspectacular, in the win. He finished the game having gone 7-of-8 for 95 yards, but the same issues appeared again in this one.

Tagovailoa led a sharp touchdown drive to start the game, but lost a fumble on a botched under-center snap with backup center Corey Levin.

This fumble was Tagovailoa’s second of the preseason, and they have quickly become a concern over the summer. He muffed a snap against the Broncos, dropped a ball during practice at Lanier High School, and lost another during the joint sessions with the Colts.

“I thought Tua did a nice job operating, obviously moved the football there for a couple drives,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said about his performance. “Plenty to clean up. We had an avoidable center-quarterback exchange, which we have to clean up, and we will. But I thought, by and large, we operated [well].”

Through three drives, the Falcons’ first team finished with 99 yards of offense, seven points, but two lost fumbles.

But aside from the lost footballs, there was not a lot of downfield action for Tagovailoa. He did not complete a single pass of more than 10 yards, and he averaged around 3.7 yards per attempt in this game – 68 of his 95 total yards came after the catch. His longest pass of the day came to running back Brian Robinson Jr. (nine yards).

Among those was Kyle Pitts Sr.’s tremendous catch-and-run on 3rd-and-11 that got the Falcons inside the red zone on their opening drive.

Drake London is an elite blocking wide receiver in the NFL. The impact of having a player like that is on full display right here. pic.twitter.com/rlKBrHepMt
— Garrett Chapman (@gchapatl) August 29, 2026

Stefanski said after the game that they weren't game-planning to rely on short passes, but he had to take what the Dolphins’ defense gave him.

“That's football,” Stefanski said. “Sometimes they're going to take away some of the options, and you take what's there, and in a short sample, that's kind of what it is.”

Although it's a small sample size, he has appeared to pass up downfield throws. Just before that explosive Pitts play, Tagovailoa, who had a clean pocket, opted to take the easy completion to Pitts rather than hold for Drake London to come open further downfield, closer to the line to gain.

Beautiful pocket. Doesn’t wait for Drake to clear the backer into the window.
Explosive opportunity- missed pic.twitter.com/pQzWUGSuBA
— The Don (@_DaDonDada9) August 29, 2026

Tagovailoa’s choices reflect a larger trend this summer. His average air yards (2.8) are the lowest among all 82 qualifying quarterbacks and the second-lowest among all passers since 2023.

As a whole, the Falcons’ offense looked far better than they did against the Broncos when it picked up just 22 total yards over a pair of drives, but are they capped with Tagovailoa under center? The lack of any downfield passing is a cause for concern once starters return to the mix full time, and what works in preseason will quickly be what pushes the offense to the sidelines on Sundays.

Michael Penix Jr., who just started taking part in team drills on Monday, did not play in this game, but his arm talent provides a much higher ceiling than Tagovailoa’s. Having been a full participant in just three practices, there is a bit of concern that he won’t be ready for action come Week 1.

Stefanski pushed back on that idea this week, but with time winding down quickly, the quarterback competition feels no closer to an answer than it was in July. He will not have faced a live blitz since suffering his third ACL injury last November, and doing so against TJ Watt and the Steelers feels like a risky proposition.

Up next are Sunday’s cuts. Speculation has grown that the Falcons could carry all four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, a bit of an anomaly these days, but potentially necessary given the injury history of Tagovailoa and Penix, plus the inexperience (but upside) of rookie Jack Strand.

Between him and Penix, there is no clear answer, but Stefanski will need to decide soon. The Falcons will feel better about the veteran after Friday’s game, but it is unclear whether Tagovailoa did enough to secure the starting job. He just didn't lose it, and that bar feels unsettlingly low.

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