The Story Behind the Game: Dolphins vs Chargers

In his hit song Many Men, 50 Cent says, “Sunny days wouldn’t be special, if it wasn’t for rain. Joy wouldn’t feel so good, if it wasn’t for pain.” After a few cloudy years for the Miami Dolphins, the future is looking bright for Brian Flores and his brigade in sunny Florida.

Riding off their statement win over the red hot Cardinals, the Dolphins came back home and prepared for a week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. This season the Chargers have served their fans heartbreak after heartbreak losing all their games by 7 points or less.

This week was no different with the game coming down to the final quarter, but the Dolphins were well in control all 4 quarters extending their win streak to 5 with a 29-21 victory at home.

The League is in good hands with Tua and Herbert:

All week this game was touted as a must watch matchup between two rookie quarterbacks– two top 10 picks at that in Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert. Suffice it to say no matter who your favorite team is, if you’re a football fan, this game and these quarterbacks put a smile on your face.

Let’s start with Tua, the man out of Ewa Beach, Hawaii. Tua served as the starting quarterback for Alabama in which he threw for 7442 yards and 87 touchdowns in his three years in college. Despite suffering a gruesome leg injury his last season at Alabama, the southpaw slinger was selected 5th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. When the season began Tua served as the backup to wily vet Ryan Fitzpatrick. But that changed as during their week 7 bye, the Dolphins named Tua Tagovailoa the starter for a week 8 game against the Rams. This move was perplexing and highly scrutinized as Fitzmagic was playing quite well. Nonetheless Tua came out and beat the Rams week 8 and followed that up with the aforementioned week 9 win over the Cardinals.

Bringing us to the week 10 victory in which Tua was 15/25 with 170 yards and 2 TD. Tagovailoa was very efficient this game and his ball had some real zip on it. He appeared to be very poise this game, eluding sacks often and making sharp throws rolling out the pocket. It may seem like a longshot right now but there’s a reason why many saw this guy as a Drew Brees prototype.

Next we have Justin Herbert, the prototype. Standing at a towering 6’6, Herbert presents as a model NFL pocket passer with a big arm. During his 4 years as a starter for the Oregon Ducks, Herbert amassed 10,541 yard and 95 touchdowns. Going into the draft there were many question marks regarding his lack of overall development at Oregon and whether or not he was NFL ready. The Chargers, who brought in Tyrod Taylor during the offseason decided to roll the dice with their 6th pick and selected Justin Herbert.

After a freak accident to starting QB Tyrod Taylor, Herbert was unexpectedly thrusted into the starting spot and boy did he deliver. Justin lit the league on fire putting up monster stats and placed his name in the cap for Rookie of the Year.

Week 10 was much like previous weeks in that Herb put up good numbers but his team just failed to win. The rookie QB tossed for 187 yards, 3 total touchdowns and one Int. Herbert continues to show off his great arm and surprising maturity– that withstanding this game was just lacking those important throws on key 3rd downs and that ultimately led to the Chargers demise.

Other Offensive Contributors

With Myles Gaskin out for the Dolphins, undrafted rookie out of Washington Salvon Ahmed stepped up and ran for 85 yards and a score. The Chargers have been desperate for a feature back ever since Austin Ekler went down week 4 and journeyman Kalen Ballage may be just that. The former Dolphin saw 18 carries for 68 yards and 34 more through the air.

Justin Herbert’s favorite target this season Keenan Allen caught a touchdown along with another TD catch from tight end Hunter Henry. The Dolphins also saw a tight end in Durham Smythe find the end zone and speedster Jakeem Grant secured a goaline touchdown catch.

Coaching & Defense

The separating factor for the Fins in this game was what it’s been all season, and that’s a masterclass in coaching and defensive scheme from coach Brian Flores.

Flores served as a defensive assistant on the Patriots from 2008-2018 where he clearly picked the great mind of Bill Belichick. Coach Flores’ heralded defensive acumen secured him a head coaching job in Miami taking over disliked Adam Gase. This season Flores has made stars out of players such as Emannuel Ogbah, Nik Needham and Jerome Baker.

This afternoon against the Chargers, Flores’ defense had 2 sacks, 8 QB hits, 6 pass deflections and one key interception from Xavien Howard.

Contrastly, Anthony Lynn is working with what on paper should be a top 10 defense but hardly ever performs as such. With players such as Casey Hayward, Desmond King, Derwin James(out for the season), Melvin Ingram, and Joey Bosa, one would expect this defense to reek havoc on the league.

During his time as the Chargers coach, Lynn has chided for his puzzling play calling and seems to be constantly under scrutiny for the teams inability to finish games. I’d be hard-pressed to find any player on that Chargers squad that willingly takes their foot off the gas late in the game– that being considered, the blame naturally seems to fall on the coach(es).

Both these teams have very bright futures with what seem to be their franchise quarterbacks. But, for my money, it’s the Dolphins who will quickly be on the radar of all competitors in this league. Tua Tagovailoa paired with Brian Flores and this defense are already a tough out for just about any team on any given Sunday.

Written By, Dylan Freeman