The Pittsburgh Steelers found their footing in Week 14, beating the Baltimore Ravens to retake first place in the AFC North. However, their season is far from over. Next, they play the Miami Dolphins, who are riding a four-game win streak. While the Dolphins have played well recently, analyst Mike Renner is confident that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will have an ugly day in Pittsburgh.
“That’s one of my locks,” Renner said recently on his Pushing the Pile podcast. “He’s gonna throw a pick. He might throw like two or three. I just don’t think, in the cold weather in Pittsburgh, he has a good game.
“That’s the only thing. I think the Dolphins are the better team. If this was in Miami, I’d pick them to win by like six and a half. But in Pittsburgh, I’ve seen enough. I’ve seen too much of Tua in cold, bad weather to know that it just doesn’t end up going well.”
Tagovailoa is from Hawaii, and he played college football at Alabama. With the Dolphins since they took him fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, he hasn’t often found himself playing in bad weather. And when he has played in the cold, things haven’t gone well.
Tagovailoa is 0-5 in NFL games where the temperature is 40 degrees or colder. While it wasn’t that cold in the Dolphins’ game against the New York Jets last week, it was close. It was 41 degrees at kickoff. The Dolphins won, but Tagovailoa had a rough game. He only completed 13 of his 21 pass attempts for 127 yards and one touchdown.
The forecast for Monday’s game has the temperature around 20 degrees. Therefore, Tagovailoa could be in for a long night. He’s been having a rough year in general, throwing for 2,407 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Add the cold weather this week and the Steelers’ defense could have some prime opportunities at taking the football away.
If the Steelers can pick off Tagovailoa multiple times, that should give them a good chance of winning the game. Takeaways have been the lifeblood of their team at times.
We’ll see how often the Dolphins put the ball in Tagovailoa’s hands, though. They’re just as aware of his issues in the elements as anyone else. Their run game has been stellar in recent weeks, and the Steelers have had issues defending the ground game. The Dolphins might try to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible.
However, they’ll have to throw the ball eventually. If the Steelers can capitalize on those moments, then that could make up for any struggles they have against the run.
