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Dolphins vs Chargers Summary |  | ||||||||
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For the second consecutive week, the Dolphin offense burst out of the starting gate like a cheetah with it's tail on fire and burned a strong San Diego defense for 2 touchdowns by the start of the 2nd quarter. Then, just like they did in Detroit, the offense turned conservative and Miami coasted to a relatively painless 17-7 victory over the Bumbling Bolts in San Diego yesterday. Actually, "Bumbling Bolts" is hardly a fair nickname for the Chargers. While they do have a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot at the worst moments, their real problem is the lack of an adequate quarterback. Moses Moreno, Ryan Leaf and Jim Harbaugh all played for the Chargers yesterday and none of the three looked competent to lead an NFL team. Before San Diego starts winning, they're going to have to get a new quarterback. The game started at 1:05 PM, PST (4:05 EST) in Qualcomm stadium in San Diego. It was a sunny day, while the temperature was 63 degrees F. For Miami, the inactive players were Arturo Freeman, Alonzo Mayes, JJ Johnson, Zach Thomas, Anthony Cesario, Daryl Gardener, Bert Emmanuel and Lorenzo Bromell, while Tony Martin was designated the emergency quarterback. The Dolphins received the opening kickoff and returned it to their 33, where, on the first play from scrimmage, Fiedler faked a handoff and dropped back to pass. On the right side, Oronde Gadsden had made one quick cut and gotten behind Fahkir Brown, deep into Chargers' territory. Fiedler just launched the ball high down the field and Gadsden gathered it in at about the 20 of San Diego. He was caught from behind at the Chargers' 6 yard line, but his 61 yard reception gave Miami a 1st and goal at the Chargers' 6. It took Lamar Smith 2 runs to punch the ball into the endzone, but after just 1:41 had elapsed in the game, Miami had a 7-0 lead. Miami and San Diego traded short drives following Miami's first touchdown, and then the Chargers got a break. A "roughing the passer" penalty on Kenny Mixon added 15 yards to an 18 yard catch and run by San Diego's Terrell Fletcher. This 33 yard gain put the ball at Miami's 32, but after Miami's defense held at that point, the Chargers were forced to attempt a 43 yard field goal. The kick sailed wide right and the Chargers had squandered their only scoring opportunity of the first half. Miami got the ball back at their 34 and put together a drive based on some decent running by Lamar Smith and short passes to OJ McDuffie, Tony Martin and Leslie Shepherd, which took the ball down to the San Diego 6. From the 6, Lamar Smith bounced around Todd Wade on the right side and rambled in for a touchdown that extended the lead to 14-0. On this drive, the most notable contribution was by OJ McDuffie, who is gradually becoming more involved in the gameplan and who is improving his timing with Jay Fiedler. He converted two critical plays into first downs and was, on this drive at least, "Mr. First Down" once more. On 3rd and 6 from the Miami 49, OJ caught an 18 yard pass from Jay Fiedler for a first down. But more importantly, on 4th and 6 from the Chargers' 31, the Dolphins elected to go for the first down instead of trying the field goal or punting. Jay Fiedler dropped back to pass and hit McDuffie with a pass that was almost a little screen pass to his left. McDuffie caught the ball at about the line of scrimmage and dodged defenders up the field for 10 yards and a first down. This play kept the drive alive for an important touchdown. For the rest of the first half, the Dolphins and Chargers each ran a series of short offensive drives that accomplished nothing. Two successive drives by the Chargers ended in interceptions - one by Sam Madison and one by Brian Walker - while Miami went conservative on offense and could get nothing going against San Diego's stout run defense. The Dolphins did try one trick play in the 2nd quarter, when Leslie Shepherd received a San Diego punt and then turned and lateralled to Jeff Ogden. However, the deception didn't accomplish much as Ogden was tackled after only 4 yards. The second half opened with Miami kicking off to San Diego, but after that, the action on the field was about the same as the action at the end of the first half. Neither Miami nor San Diego could get anything going and a series of short offensive drives ensued. The only thing of significance that happened at the start of the third quarter was that Moses Moreno was injured on the Chargers' first drive and was replaced by Ryan Leaf. On Leaf's first drive, he threw an incompletion, completed a pass for no gain, completed one other pass for 14 yards and then threw an interception to Brian Walker. This was Walker's second pick of the day. The Dolphins got a break about halfway through the third quarter when Jay Fiedler tried to hit Tony Martin deep on the left side. Charger defensive back DeRon Jenkins was called for defensive pass interference when Martin got behind him and Jenkins was forced to hold on to Martin to keep him from running away. The ball was well thrown and Martin probably would have made a deep catch and possibly a touchdown if he hadn't been interfered with by Jenkins, so Jenkins may have made the right decision, but the penalty put Miami in a position to get a field goal and expand their lead to 17-0. Following Miami's last score, the Chargers and Ryan Leaf put together their only scoring drive of the day. They drove from their 35 to the Miami 8, mostly on the running of Terrell Fletcher. With Miami playing a very loose defense because they expected the Chargers to pass, San Diego was able to run the ball with a series of traps, draws and misdirection plays. On this drive, the Dolphins began to work harder against the run until finally Brock Marion was sucked in on run defense once too often and allowed fullback Fred McCrary to get behind him. A play fake by Leaf turned into a short pass to McCrary, who made a terrific one-handed catch for San Diego's only touchdown. With the score now 17-7 in favor of Miami, the Chargers were fired up at the beginning of the 4th quarter and their defense showed it. On Miami's next series, the Charger defense was attacking very hard and stopping Miami on almost every play. However a couple of penalties on the defense - roughing the kicker and defensive holding - gave Miami two first downs and allowed them to run a lot of time off the clock. The best play of this series (or at least the most amusing) happened at the 50 yard line. With Miami facing a 2nd and 19, Fiedler rolled to his right to try and pass. With no one open, the Charger defense attacked fiercely and forced Fiedler out of the pocket. A couple of pass rushers got loose and chased Fiedler almost to the sideline, where Fiedler reversed direction and ran back around to his left, scrambling for his life. Finally, after having been chased from one sideline to the other, Fiedler threw hard down the field to Rob Konrad for what turned out to be a 4 yard gain. It was a play in the best traditions of Steve Young and Fran Tarkenton. Despite Fiedler's mad scrambling, the Dolphins were stopped on this drive and punted. San Diego took over at their 19 with 9:41 remaining, but with time running low, the Chargers abandoned their running game and allowed Ryan Leaf to pass, which was a mistake. Leaf couldn't get San Diego going and the Chargers punted again. The rest of the game pretty much followed the same pattern - Miami would run 3 plays and punt, followed by the Chargers running 4 or 5 plays and punting. The only excitement in the rest of the game happened with just 1:12 remaining, when Ryan Leaf was flushed out of the pocket and scrambled for 14 yards. At the end of his run, he injured his leg while sliding down and came off the field. Jim Harbaugh replaced Leaf as the 3rd San Diego quarterback of the game, but after two completions and two incompletions, Harbaugh threw the ball right to Patrick Surtain in the endzone and the game was over. Overall, this game played out very much like the game in Detroit. The Dolphins jumped out to an early lead and then turned conservative on offense, allowing their defense to win the rest of the game. From the opening kickoff, Miami was very much in control of the game and despite the low score, there wasn't much doubt about who would win this contest. Once again, the Miami coaching staff did an excellent job preparing their team physically and emotionally for this game. The Dolphins did not take the Chargers for granted and were not surprised by a Chargers team that had nothing to lose. The gameplan worked very well and the conservative approach paid off, as Miami had no turnovers in the game. When passing the ball, Miami did a good job setting up the plays, protecting Jay Fiedler (San Diego didn't record a single sack) and completing the throws. It was not spectacular, but it was efficient. The running game was not as dominant as it had been in some other games. On the good side, Lamar Smith did pick up some tough yards and did score the Dolphins' only touchdowns. Plus, the threat of the running game worked to make a couple of big passing plays possible. The run defense did a fine job against the Chargers when they were expecting the run. The only time they had any trouble was when San Diego ran out of passing formations. Even then, the Charger's longest run from scrimmage by a running back was only 11 yards. The pass defense shut down the San Diego wide receivers, with the two starters only catching 4 passes between them for a combined 28 yards. The Dolphins also came up with 4 interceptions, which played a big part in stopping the Chargers' offense. The switch of Robert Jones to the middle and adding Twan Russell to the outside seems to have helped with the problems in covering the short passing game. Freddie Jones is one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the league, but Miami held him to 4 catches for 39 yards. Of course, pass coverage was helped by the pass rush which did a good job pressuring all the San Diego quarterbacks, even without Daryl Gardener. They wound up with 3 sacks and knocked opposing quarterbacks to the ground constantly. Special teams did a good job this week, although there were no big plays like the ones we've seen in the past couple of weeks. Penalties took an unusually high toll on Miami this week, as the Dolphins committed 8 for 60 yards. This stopped a couple of Miami drives and while the Dolphins can get away with this against San Diego, it will kill them against teams like the Colts. On offense, Miami was having trouble running the reverse. The Dolphins ran 3 real reverses for a total of -15 yards. While Miami must run the reverse to make the fake-reverse work, it seems that they need a little more work on that play. The third down conversion ratio was abysmal against San Diego, as the Dolphins converted only 1 of 13 third downs. Part of that was due to the injury to Thurman Thomas, but the Dolphins can't let that stop them. Perhaps that will improve as Autry Denson (now the third down back) gets more experience. And Miami is still having trouble running the clock down in the 4th quarter. With the Jets coming to town next week, Miami must get better at controlling the clock at the end of the game, no matter what that takes. Jay Fiedler continues to play efficiently within Chan Gailey's system, completing 13 of 20 (65%) for 160 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He didn't get much room to scramble this week, but he did a good job avoiding sacks and making plays when there were very few options available to him. He didn't make any serious mistakes and led the team well. Lamar Smith had a sub-par game for him, gaining 69 yards on 27 carries for a 2.6 ypc average and catching 3 passes for 12 yards. But he did have the Dolphins' only 2 touchdowns of the game and he ran very hard against one of the best run defenses in the league. Rob Konrad caught 1 pass for 5 yards and blocked for Lamar Smith. He had a hard time yesterday against the Chargers' linebackers. Thurman Thomas ran 3 times for 17 yards and caught 1 pass for 12 yards before he was injured. He didn't have a big contribution to the game, but it looked like he was running well before he was carried off the field. Autry Denson substituted for Thurman Thomas on 3rd downs in this game, but only rushed 5 times for 5 yards and didn't catch a pass. He also returned 2 kickoffs for 50 yards. He needs more experience before he'll be a good 3rd down back. OJ McDuffie made his presence felt by catching 3 passes for 36 yards, including two crucial receptions on Miami's 2nd touchdown drive. He also ran a reverse, but that play lost 3 yards. It's taking him some time to get in sync with Jay Fiedler, but he's slowly improving. Leslie Shepherd caught 2 passes for 19 yards and ran 2 reverses for a total of -12 yards. Since he made some big plays a few weeks ago, teams are paying more attention to him. Tony Martin returned to the lineup, catching 2 passes for 15 yards and drawing a pass interference penalty on Miami's field goal drive. If he hadn't been interfered with on that play, he might have had a touchdown. Oronde Gadsden was well covered for most of the game and, as a result, only had one catch. However, that catch went for 61 yards and set up Miami's first touchdown. None of Miami's tight ends caught any passes, although Hunter Goodwin was targeted for one throw in the endzone. The offensive line did a good job pass protecting for Fiedler, allowing no sacks. But they had some trouble with the Chargers' defensive line late in the game and they did not create much running room for Lamar Smith against that tough Chargers' defense. Brian Walker had the best day of any of Miami's defensive players, picking off two passes, knocking down two more and leading the team in tackles with 9. He continues to hit very hard and play some excellent football. Derrick Rodgers also had 9 tackles and a special teams stop. He was very active yesterday and has clearly picked up his game now that Zach Thomas is out. The next highest tackler was Brock Marion, who had 4 stops on Sunday, and knocked down a pass. But he lost coverage on Fred McCrary on San Diego's only touchdown. Jerry Wilson went back to rushing the passer more on Sunday, something that he has excelled at in the past. As a result, Wilson had a sack and a forced fumble on Moses Moreno, as well as 3 other tackles. Wilson is clearly better suited to played the dime position, where he isn't asked to cover starting wide receivers. He had a very good day on Sunday. Terrence Shaw was very active as the nickel back on Sunday, getting 3 tackles and knocking down a pass. Shaw was trying to show his former teammates and coaches that they made a mistake in letting him go and he clearly had a better day that his replacement on the Chargers. Jason Taylor continues to wreak havoc on opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks, picking up 3 tackles, one sack for 12 yards and knocking down a pass. His improved strength and his additional moves have really paid off this year. Rich Owens played a lot on passing downs and recorded 3 tackles and a batted pass. He is an important contributor as a rotating defensive lineman. Sam Madison had 2 tackles, intercepted one pass and knocked down another. Patrick Surtain also had 2 tackles, intercepted a pass of his own and knocked down another. Trace Armstrong had a sack late in the game of Ryan Leaf. His overall production has fallen off a bit, however and I'm wondering if his age and the length of the season might be catching up to him a little bit. Tim Bowens returned to the lineup and knocked down a pass as well as registering one tackle. He continues to be a rock in the middle and his injury doesn't seem to have slowed him down. Robert Jones and Twan Russell started at middle linebacker and strongside linebacker this week and each had one tackle. They did a pretty good job in coverage, but neither did anything spectacular. However, the Chargers seemed to have more trouble passing into the middle than other teams have over the past few weeks. Kenny Mixon started at left defensive end and ended up with 1 tackle. However, he did draw a 15 yard penalty for roughing the passer that put the Chargers in field goal range. Trent Gamble, Michael Hamilton, Greg Jeffries and Ed Perry each had one special teams' tackle, with Gamble's being the most impressive one of the day. Olindo Mare' did a good job on field goals, but his kickoffs continue to be a little bit shorter this year than they have been in the past. Matt Turk had a mistake-free day on Sunday, averaging 41.1 yards per punt and putting 2 inside the 20. More importantly, though, he didn't shank any punts late in the game. Jeff Ogden returned 2 punts for a total of 20 yards, but didn't provide any fireworks this week. Thurman Thomas was taken off the field with a sprained knee. While it's possible that he has some ligament damage, that's not known at this time. Either way, he will probably miss the Jets' game this week. Jason Taylor had a hyper-extended elbow during the game and his status is unknown at this time. However, the word out of Miami is that the injury is not serious and he should be fine for the Jets' game. The Dolphins took this game seriously enough, but not too seriously. They went out to San Diego, played their kind of football and allowed the Chargers enough rope to hang themselves - which the Chargers obligingly did. All in all, this was a fairly boring victory. Unlike last week's game in Detroit, I didn't get nervous when the Chargers scored at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Ryan Leaf may be the biggest bust in NFL draft history and is certainly in the top 5 worst first round picks. With him at the helm, I had no fear of San Diego mounting a comeback in the 4th. I was surprised at how good and how aggressive San Diego's defense is. Their numbers are impressive, but until you actually see them on the field, you can't really fathom how good they are. I was very impressed with them. On a slightly related topic, has anyone else noticed that this Dolphins' secondary may be the best secondary that Miami has had since the glory days of the early 70s? Certainly, Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison are the best pair of starting cornerbacks that Miami has had since... well, they may be the best ever. And while Brock Marion and Brian Walker aren't as good at safety as Jake Scott and Dick Anderson were, they are as good as any pair of Miami safeties in the last 20 years. And when you put them all on the field together, they provide a blanket of coverage that has stymied the opposition's deep passing games all year long.
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