Josh Allen will lead his Buffalo Bills into South Beach to take on Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. It’s a battle between two undefeated division rivals in the AFC East.
It also comes with Allen and Tua playing like two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Allen’s Bills have dominated their first two opponents and look to be the odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl. In Miami, Tagovailoa is coming off a record-setting six-touchdown performance in a comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Allen has been among the best quarterbacks in the NFL since the start of the 2020 campaign. Now in his third NFL season, Tua is looking to join the elite club and make a statement Week 3.
In talking about his opponent for this big early-season game, Allen had nothing but praise to throw in the direction of Miami’starting quarterback.
“Tua’s playing fantastic right now which sucks as a Bills fan and for a Bills player to see. You don’t want to see your division rivals winning football games, but I’m proud of him for all the adversity and stuff and all the naysayers and stuff like that because I can relate to a lot of that. He’s playing really good football right now. I hate to see it, but it’s very good for him.”
Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen on Tua Tagovailoa
This could very well be the start of a special rivalry between the two young AFC East quarterbacks. But it’s apparent that said rivalry will have a certain respect behind the scenes.
Related: Find out where Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Allen rank among NFL QBs
Tua Tagovailoa looking to make a statement against Josh Allen
Ahead of Miami’s Week 2 win over Baltimore, a legendary former NFL head coach predicted that Tua would ultimately be benched in favor of backup Teddy Bridgewater this season.
This idea seemed ridiculous given the fact that new Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has backed his QB1 at nearly every turn. Tagovailoa responded by leading Miami to 28 fourth-quarter points in an unbelievable comeback last week. He’s joined Allen in putting up an elite-level opening to the season.
- Tua Tagovailoa stats (2022): 71% completion, 739 passing yards, 7 TD, 2 INT, 116.5 QB rating
- Josh Allen stats (2022): 75% completion, 614 passing yards, 8 total TD, 2 INT, 123.7 QB rating
It’s only a two-week sample size. But Tagovailoa seemingly compares well to his counterpart. It also has the former Alabama standout seeing his NFL MVP odds increase big time.
As for Sunday’s divisional matchup, Tagovailoa knows very well that Buffalo will be the most-difficult task of the young season.
“We understand that they’re a really good team. That’s no secret. Everyone knows that they’re really good team. They’re tough defensively, they’re explosive offensively.
So I wouldn’t say that we have a measuring stick for how good that these guys are because when you look at it, their opening game, they beat the Super Bowl champions of last year. And they didn’t just beat them; it was by a lot.”
Tua Tagovailoa on facing Josh Allen and the Bills
Buffalo has outscored its first two opponents by a combined margin of 72-17. Those two wins came against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and last season’s top seed in the AFC, the Tennessee Titans.
If the Dolphins are able to solve this equation and come out on top Sunday, it will be a major statement. If Tua outplays Allen, he will have officially arrived. No pressure at all.