Tua, Dolphins Defeat Chargers 29-21 in Action-Packed Performance

The storyline of this game was all about a rookie quarterback battle between Tua Tagovailoa and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert.

And in some ways, that was exactly what happened. But perhaps more so, this game was about stone cold efficiency on all three sides of the ball. And where the Chargers faltered, the Dolphins delivered.

On the second play of the game, Nik Needham sacked Justin Herbert, setting up a third down conversion the Chargers couldn’t complete. On the punt deep in their own territory, Andrew Van Ginkel stepped up for a key block and recovery that led to the Dolphins’ first TD, a 1-yard run by Salvon Ahmed in the second minute of the game. The scoring drive summary was one play for one yard in four seconds.

That set the tone for the rest of the game with the Fins only punting twice. Tua Tagovailoa put together a number of excellent drives with the help of runningback Salvon Ahmed (85 yards, 1 TD), who got the start with three of the Fins’ top RBs out. Jakeem Grant proved he wasn’t just a return specialist as he averaged almost 11 yards per reception, and even Durham Smythe got in on the party on a beautifully designed touchdown play by offensive coordinator Chan Gailey that saw every member of the Chargers defense run in the exact opposite direction they should’ve been going in.

Los Angeles put up a fight and the Fins looked a bit lackluster after a mishandled snap by center Ted Karras in the second quarter, but they rallied in the third after a huge interception by Xavien Howard. “It changed the momentum,” the star cornerback said simply after the game. Howard and fellow cornerback Byron Jones effectively shut down the Chargers’ star wideout, Keenan Allen, who only totaled 39 yards on the day. He was targeted seven times and only reeled in three, thanks in large part to the Fins’ stellar secondary.

The Dolphins’ defense took Herbert down for two sacks (including one by Emmanuel Ogbah, who has a sack in six straight games) and eight QB hits. Five tackles for loss and six passes defensed ended in a largely dominant performance that the Chargers just couldn’t match.

Perhaps the real stars of the day, the offensive line protected the Fins’ most valuable offensive asset to near perfection and created opportunities all over the field for Salvon Ahmed. Outside of Karras’ misstep, the O-line stood strong and had arguably their best performance of the season. Tagovailoa was only hit once throughout the entire game and not sacked at all. Although he had a couple of lucky throws that perhaps should’ve been interceptions, he ended the day 3-0 as a starter with zero interceptions and five touchdowns on his rookie season. Not bad for a rookie with a bad hip.