NFL Week 1 - Dolphins vs Chargers
What I’m Excited About
Dolphins - I’m excited for my team to be playing again. I’m looking forward to seeing the offense with a full year of playbook experience behind them. I’m excited to see Tua and I hope the line can keep him clean enough to find his blazing fast receivers.
Chargers - I guess I could say I’m excited to see the Herbert vs Tua match up again. The Chargers are playing my team this week, I just want to see them lose. I also attended the game in LA last season. I still have a bad Charger taste in my mouth. No excitement, just losses for the Chargers.
My Prediction
Dolphins 34 - Chargers 28
The Good
1Q - The Chargers are finding ways to gain 5 years every first down via the run. It’s putting the Dolphins in a tough spot to play the rest of that set of downs.
1Q - Great opening drive by the Chargers. They gained run yards on first down, converted the 3rd downs they needed to, and punched in the Touchdown. That’s how you take advantage of a turnover.
1Q - The Dolphins look so good on offense. Second drive and they are gaining nothing but chunk yardage in the air and on the ground.
1Q - A great answer drive from the Dolphins and woah boy do they look dangerous on offense. The run blocking looks so much better than last year. This game is going to come down to who can get 2 or 3 defensive stops in a row.
2Q - The Dolphins get a field goal on what was another good-looking drive. It hurts some that they were not able to get the red zone touchdown. This feels like the kind of game where converting touchdowns is of the utmost importance.
2Q - The Chargers complete the drive with a touchdown showing the importance of finishing with 7 instead of 3. The O-Line is blocking well and the results are showing.
2Q - Dolphins get a stop on 3rd & 2. A huge play being down by 4 with six and a half minutes left in the half. They need some points to answer this defensive stop.
2Q - Dolphins get the touchdown and take the lead on a drive that featured a 4th & 7 conversion and methodical gains rather than the chunks we’ve seen so far this game. They’ve taken the lead and have to hang on for another 1:42 to hold serve in the half where they started with the ball.
3Q - The Miami defense answers the call and gets a 3 & out against the Chargers offense. The last play being a sack on the half-yard line. The field has been flipped and the interception has been stricken from the record.
3Q - TUA IS MY QUARTERBACK!!! Tua goes long down the sideline and hits a wide-open Tyreek Hill for the touchdown. What a confidence boost for the team, a reward for the defense, and an incredible addition to the story of this game.
4Q - The Chargers score a methodical touchdown. This has been an excellent game to watch.
4Q - Braxton Berrios has himself a series and the Dolphins close the gap to 1 point. The offense looked good enough for the touchdown but stalled out. Now the defense needs to get another stop with 10 minutes left in the game.
4Q - Dolphins take the lead with a great touch pass to Tyreek who is having a day today. Unfortunately, Sanders missed the extra point and a field goal wins the game. The Defense needs to get the job done before mid-field. What a gut-wrenching miss.
4Q - What an incredible defensive sequence to end the game. The Dolphins D-Line felt like it was doing nothing all game. In the final drive they got two sacks and caused an Intentional Grounding. On a personal note, I was so please for Phillips to get the last sack. I was at the game last year when he had the sack taken away on what I saw as a terrible call. Call me biased, I know what I saw. Phillips getting to end the game feels like the football gods have paid us Miami fans back. What a game.
The Bad
1Q - A red zone turnover by the Dolphins on a missed snap after moving the ball down the field in chunks. Just awful.
1Q - Dolphins D-Line is being handled in the first drive of this game. There are no plays being made when they need a tackle for loss or prevent Herbert from running for the first.
2Q - Huge run into the red zone for the Chargers and D-Line is being handled by the blocking of the Chargers. What was 5-yard gains almost every first down just turned into a huge gain.
2Q - Chargers take an awful Pass Interference penalty as time expires in the second half. The Dolphins get a zero-second field goal attempt and are gifted the lead going into halftime.
3Q - An offense like the Chargers doesn’t need help and giving them three penalties in one drive is not a formula for winning a game like this. Two of the penalties were Pass Interference and one of them was in the End Zone. The Fins had been so good with the penalties so far in this game and a total breakdown. Tough look. Chargers score the Touchdown and take the lead back in the opening drive of the second half.
3Q - The Dolphins run blocking is being blown up in their first drive of the 2nd half. This does not bode well for the rest of the half.
3Q - Tua throws an interception in the end zone. Feels like the kind of interception that gives the other team a chance to extend their lead and being down two scores in a game like this feels insurmountable. The best defense is a good offense.
4Q - The drive where Miami needs to answer and the first two plays are a blocked pass and a botched snap. There is no need to make this game harder than it is already.
4Q - The Chargers have another great drive that takes 6 minutes off the clock. Not to be outdone, the Dolphins defense holds them in the red zone to only a field goal. This has been the best game I’ve watched this weekend.
The Takeaway
Incredible game. That is the best regular-season Dolphins game I have ever watched. Credit to both teams, there was very little bad football in this game. The Tua interception was tough and that pass interference at the end of the first half looms large for the Chargers. The game was a low penalty, the blocking was good the offense was moving and regardless of the outcome, there is a lot to like for both teams going into the rest of the season.
The Dolphins O-Line did a sneaky good job in this game. Tyreek had an insane day on the field. After the game he had in this stadium last season, it must have felt good to start is 2k yard season with 200+ yards and 2 TDs. Tua looked great if you closed your eyes for the int. This was not just a win where they did enough. This was a win where the whole team played their part and played a full 60 minutes to get the win. Both sides of the ball stepped up when they had to; even when it seemed like they were having an off day.
The Chargers played an excellent game and a loss like this stings. Their O-line was a beast in the run game. Herbert was great all game long. Their drives were professional and showed off the kind of offense that can take them to a division title at the end of the year. There is no such thing as a moral victory. In this case, there is something to look forward to next week. Knowing the kind of performance the other team will have to put up to beat the Chargers should comfort fans for the rest of the season.
Great game, Great, Great game.
CHR;)
