Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in the 2023 season. In 2024, the former Alabama All-American missed six games because of injuries, but his average of 260.6 passing yards per game ranked fourth among the NFL’s quarterbacks.

This season, Tagovailoa has averaged 190 passing yards per game, and for the past three contests, the Dolphins offense has recorded more rushing yards than passing yards, something that did not happen once in a game started by Tagovailoa between a 33-24 victory over the New England Patriots on Jan. 9, 2021, and the current span.

The ground game has helped carry Miami to a three-game winning streak after the Dolphins won two of their first nine games this season.

“It means a lot,” Miami wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said of Tagovailoa’s preference for victories over statistics, “when your captain, your leader, he’s not so focused on going out there and throwing for crazy touchdowns and yards. You’re just going out there just trying to win a game, and, ultimately, that’s what it comes down to — wins and losses.”

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But Tagovailoa said Miami’s passing game needs to be able to match the rushing attack’s dependability. In his first five seasons, Tagovailoa achieved a passing-efficiency rating of 97.9, the ninth-best in NFL history among players with at least 2,000 passes. But this season, Tagovailoa’s passing-efficiency rating is 85.9.

“Of course, the winning aspect of it is very important for us,” Tagovailoa said, “but it’s also how we continue to get better. The back end of the year, you can’t just lean on one particular style of play. As it gets into the deeper parts of December, early January and then the postseason, you got to be able to pass the ball and pass the ball efficiently before you can start getting the run game going and whatnot because the teams that we’re going to start playing from here on out, like, you’re going to get their best. They’ve got in their groove. They found their groove, and that’s what that is, so that’s what you got to expect. …

“I think it’s the whole balance of offsetting the pass with the run and offsetting the run with the pass. But throughout that process, as the run game has its flow, the pass game has to find that same flow, and they need to be able to intertwine to keep the defense on their heels.”

Miami’s three-game winning streak has lifted the Dolphins’ record to 5-7 with five games remaining in the regular season. But that’s still three games behind in the race for the final spot in the AFC postseason field.

Miami starts December against the New York Jets at noon CST Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The kickoff temperature is forecast to be 40 degrees.

Two years ago, the Dolphins won 34-13 while visiting the Jets. The kickoff temperature was 48 degrees, the coldest for a game won by Miami with Tagovailoa at quarterback.

Tagovailoa has started eight games for the Dolphins with a kickoff temperature of 47 degrees or colder, and Miami has lost all of them.

The Dolphins’ remaining schedule also includes visits to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 15 and the New England Patriots on Jan. 4.

“First things first, it’s going to be cold,” Tagovailoa said. “You kind of have that on top of your mind. And then outside of that, it’s a mentality, it’s a mindset. This is what we get paid to do — to play football. Regardless, it’s raining, it’s snowing, it’s sleeting, it’s hot, it’s cold. Regardless, we got to go out there and play and do our jobs.”