Wonder how the goal posts will move on why Tua sucks next offseason after he wins a playoff game…
For me, the questions began on December 1, 2018.
The first time I saw Tua actually hit a wall I realized he would be a gimmick QB until he proved he wasn't. And I think you're right. It's going to take a Playoff game where he plays well. He hasn't "fixed" his image since 12/1/18 and it's been an onslaught of disappoint every time he plays on a big stage.
Nothing he has done has really convinced anyone that he's anything more than the Bama QB who led the Crimson Tide through 12 regular season wins against 12 opponents who couldn't compete with Bama's talent who all lost by 22 or more points.
But on December 1st Georgia whooped him. 40% completions, 160 passing yards, 2 INTs, knocked out of the game and saved by the backup who was none other than Jalen Hurts, the guy he'd replaced a year prior.
And then Clemson intercepted him twice and shut the Tide's offense down for a National Championship.
And then the following year Burrow played a perfect game and beat him, stealing his crown.
And then he got injured like a small, slow, injury-prone guy does, right?
And then he threw for 80 yards against Denver.
And then he got pulled against a Raiders defense filled with Covid back-ups.
Then he threw 3 INTs against Buffalo with the Playoffs on the line.
Then the next year his INT helped give Jacksonville their first win in forever...more embarrassment.
Then he threw 2 more INTs and we lost to ATL the next week.
And his lackluster game in Tennessee him exposed further.
Then came the emotional stuff and the talk of whether or not he "sucked."
Then his concussions came calling.
And his unstoppable offense got stopped by a good defense in SF in the biggest game of the week.
And then the Chargers stomped on his unstoppable offense...
in primetime.
And there were 3 more INTs to lose against GB in front of everyone's family...
on Christmas.
And then in the biggest game of Oct '23 when we had momentum....a blowout loss to Buffalo.
And then in the biggest game after that....a loss to Philly
in primetime.
And then in Germany with all eyes on us....a loss to KC when we were the only game on TV.
And then on MNF....a loss to TEN
in primetime.
And then 5 more INTs in the final 4 weeks.
And a couple losses to the AFC's top teams.
Oh, and then he got to the Playoffs and scored 7 points with everyone suiting up.
He's been the guy who's stepped in to throw the costly pick or lose the big game for quite a few years now. His glory stopped on December 1, 2018 as far as I'm concerned and he's been on the hook to steal that glory back every since.
Like it or not, you cannot continually lose and look bad in primetime or people will turn on you. FWIW, I thought he got off to an amazing start in 2023 and really played great right up through the Philly game. He was "big game Tua" for the first 1/3rd of the season. He was unbelievable against the Chargers and played really well against Philly. I thought he'd finally turned a corner TBH.
But hey, if you want to be king you've got to earn it and he just hasn't won yet...literally.
At some point you have to win big games. That's the freakin' point.
No one's going to complain if he suddenly starts showing up and winning actual primetime games.
You guys who talk about goal posts forget that the force moving those is called disappointment. No one's going to be disappointed if we're actually winning our big games. And if some people get to that point and they're still concerned with how other people feel, well, both groups have their own problems IMHO.