Tua shows why he should start for Falcons in season opener

Tua Tagovailoa looked like a competent NFL quarterback on Friday night in a 17-12 win over the Dolphins, save for a fumbled snap. That was proof that he should take the first snap for the Falcons at Pittsburgh two weeks from now.

Competency is a low bar. But the Falcons have no other quarterback on the roster who can clear it. That makes Tagovailoa the best option at quarterback for the first real game on Sept. 13.

The Falcons signed Tagovailoa as insurance in case Michael Penix Jr. wasn’t ready. He’s not.

Penix participated fully in practice this week for the first time since knee surgery but said it was “too soon” for him to play in the final exhibition game at Miami. That gave Tagovailoa an opening to prove that he should be the starter for Week 1 as Penix watched from the sideline.

Tagovailoa made a solid case against his old team.

Tagovailoa was 7-of-8 passing for 95 yards against the Dolphins. He continued his fruitful connection with tight end Kyle Pitts Jr. Tagovailoa led the Falcons on one touchdown drive and had them in range for another score when Brian Robinson Jr. lost a fumble.

He never pushed the ball downfield. Two of his completions to Pitts went for 37 and 16 yards. Pitts finished with three receptions for 59 yards, and all but six of those yards were gained after the catch.

Tagovailoa made safe, simple throws to playmakers and let them do their thing. It wasn’t exciting but, realistically, that’s the blueprint for this Falcons offense. The QB needs to be efficient, move the chains and take care of the ball.

He checked two of those boxes. His one big mistake was a lost fumble on the first play of the second drive. It appeared that Tagovailoa simply mishandled the snap.

Tagovailoa will have to make tougher throws in official games. He’s got a track record of doing that at a high level before his career went downhill in Miami. The Dolphins eventually gave up on their former Pro Bowl quarterback.

Tagovailoa decided to sign with the Falcons because he would have a chance to start and revive his career. The chances of him winning the job increased as Penix remained sidelined. Penix expected to be ready for the start of training camp but only got cleared for contact last week.

Maybe Penix is so good in practice over the next few days that coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff decide to start him in Week 1. That would mean playing Penix in his first live game since he suffered a torn ACL on Nov. 16. Can coaches trust Penix only a couple of weeks after he said he’s still getting over the mental hurdle of taking a hit to that knee?

The Falcons should give Penix more time to get used to playing again. Tagovailoa gives them the best chance to win at Pittsburgh. If he’s a flop, then open the QB competition again once Penix is ready to go all out again.

It was a bad sign for the Falcons when Tagovailoa wasn’t ready for the start of training camp because of a back ailment. Then Tagovailoa was bad in the exhibition opener against the Broncos. He was bad during the joint practices with the Colts.