MIAMI GARDENS — This is the other side of “Show me the money!” for Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. This is “Show me why you got the contract extension!” and it’s not going well.

Where’s the magic? Where’s the spark? 

This is my major problem with Tua. He hasn’t shown anything special in a couple of years. To drill down further, Tua hasn’t been magical since midway through 2023.

Let’s be clear here: this isn’t about the money or Tua’s lack of mobility, and this isn’t personal. This is about being a top-notch NFL quarterback. It’s about meeting expectations regardless of your salary, where you were drafted or your physical skills. This is about making magic happen.

Tua, as is usually the case, is fairly level-headed on the topic.

“I’ve got to do my job,” he said Wednesday, “and my job is to play well enough to help our team win games.”

There’s the rub. You know the stat I always cite: in the 2023-24 seasons, Tua was 2-10 vs. playoff teams with 15 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and an 84.8 passer rating.

By comparison, over that same span Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen is 10-6 with 27 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 99.1 passer rating.

I don’t blame Tua solely for those stats. I still maintain you can win a Super Bowl with Tua. But as the quarterback of a Dolphins team with playoff expectations I hold him largely responsible for those stats.

Something must change here, and it won’t be the expectations despite injuries to Tua, his offensive line or his injured star wide receiver, Tyreek Hill.

“If you’re uncomfortable with the stakes of the game, it’s not a game for you,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “You’re not going to change the stakes.”

After Tua was awarded a four-year, $212 million contract extension in 2024, an extension I didn’t support, he took the microphone before a training camp practice and playfully yelled to the fans, “Show me the money!” parroting the line from the movie “Jerry Maguire”.

Everyone laughed and applauded. No one is laughing anymore, and few are applauding. The Dolphins are struggling at 1-4, and Tua, with his late-game interceptions against New England and Buffalo, is struggling just as badly as the rest of the team.

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Tua, who was 6-5 as a starter last season, hasn’t shown much magic since 2022 when he led the Dolphins to that amazing 42-38 come-from-behind victory at Baltimore. He followed that by leading the Dolphins to a 21-14 victory over Buffalo the next week despite possibly being concussed during the game.

You could argue Tua has the misfortune of being in the AFC at the same time as four possible/probable future Hall of Fame quarterbacks — Allen, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Since 2022, when McDaniel came in and revived Tua’s career, Tua has a 2-11 record against those quarterbacks.

Again, where’s Tua’s magic?

We’ve seen magic from Mahomes, Jackson, Allen and Burrow.

Mahomes is among the best of all time with his three Super Bowl titles and five Super Bowl appearances. Burrow has been to a Super Bowl. Allen and Jackson have been named MVP (Jackson twice).

Tua? He has a Pro Bowl appearance and back-to-back playoff appearances. 

That’s not good enough considering the expectations of the Dolphins in the McDaniel era.

For the record, Tua doesn’t compare himself to those other quarterbacks.

“The only perspective you have is what you can do to help your team win every week,” he said.

Regardless, Tua must put this Dolphins team on his back the way Allen carries the Bills. That’s the expectation when you’re an NFL quarterback on a team that has, or had, playoff aspirations.

Tua hasn’t consistently delivered at a high level. We expect to see Tua work late-game magic based on the Tua-friendly McDaniel offense, the back-to-back playoff appearances, having the league’s No. 1 offense in 2023, the Pro Bowl berth, and what his AFC counterparts have accomplished. 

No, Tua can’t carry the Dolphins in the same physical fashion Allen does with the Bills, by plowing over defenders.

But Tua can carry the Dolphins by making clutch late-game plays such as Allen. We saw it firsthand in 2022 when Allen led the Bills to a remarkable 32-29 win over the Dolphins, outdueling Tua, who played well, down the stretch.

Yes, the Dolphins have failed Tua greatly by not recognizing his limitations and providing him more help in the way of a strong running game (don’t give me that mess about the overrated 2023 run game), a better offensive line or a game-changing/game-winning defense.

Tua has been a victim, in a sense. But no excuses.

Tua has to overcome that and make plays, make magic happen, especially in late-game situations. We have not see that often enough.