Tag: Chargers-Dolphins recap

3 takeaways from Chargers’ 29-21 loss to Dolphins

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez drops his thoughts on what went wrong in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.

The Chargers didn’t get unlucky. Instead, they were outplayed and their mistakes were too costly to overcome in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.

Here are my takeaways from Week 10:

Play-calling was questionable

The Chargers knew that the Dolphins possessed one of the best defenses in the NFL coming into the game. However, I didn’t know that would entail drawing up a script that would take the football out of the team’s best offensive player’s hands completely.

Instead, Los Angeles resorted to a run-heavy approach to take some of the pressure off of Herbert in hopes of it helping with Miami’s blitz-heavy scheme. But the decision to run the ball more did not help, as they failed to go for over 100 yards, despite running back Kalen Ballage’s strong outing.

The Chargers called run play on 18 of their 30 first and second-down, putting Herbert in a handful of unideal situations to try to convert on third downs. Los Angeles didn’t have much success, going 4-of-13 on third-down.

While he had his ups and downs, it didn’t help that he was under constant duress on the majority of his drop backs or his targets were erased. But the bottom line is that Herbert wasn’t given a chance until late in the game. Like I’ve said, roll with what is working. Running the football was not.

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Chargers’ Players of the Game in Week 10 vs. Dolphins

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez gives out individual awards for Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.

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The Chargers suffered defeat to the Dolphins on Sunday, 29-21.

While there wasn’t a lot of good to take away from the loss, there were still a few players that stood out in all three phases of the game.

Let’s take a look at who’s deserving of this week’s awards:

Offensive Player of the Game: RB Kalen Ballage

There was a consistent trend of this going to quarterback Justin Herbert on a weekly basis. However, Herbert experienced arguably the most underwhelming performance of the season. Instead, Ballage, who was signed to the active roster the day before the game, was among the few who made the most of every snap. Ballage ran hard every single time he got the football, amassing 68 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. He also proved to be valuable in the passing game, both as a pass catcher and a blocker, finishing with 34 yards on five catches.

Defensive Player of the Game: CB Michael Davis

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn’t light up the secondary by any means, but Davis was the one defensive player who made the most impactful plays in critical moments. Finishing with two passes defensed, Davis was sticky in coverage. Linebacker Denzel Perryman was also in consideration for this award for his efforts against the run, but he failed to reel in a tipped pass, which was forced by Davis for an interception.

Special Teams Player of the Game: K Michael Badgley

The special teams unit struggled mightily as a whole on Sunday. But Badgley was the lone bright spot, as he was perfect on all extra points. For someone who was unable to execute simple tasks like this just a couple of weeks ago, it’s good to see him turn things around.

Instant analysis of Chargers’ 29-21 loss to Dolphins

Chargers Wire’s Gavino Borquez breaks down Los Angeles’ loss to Miami.

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The Chargers were outplayed in all three phases of the game in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.

Here is my instant analysis from Week 10:

Injury Report

The Chargers did not lose anyone to an injury today.

Play of the Game: Nick Vigil’s fumble recovery

Normally, this would be for a phenomenal throw by quarterback Justin Herbert. However, there weren’t many of those. The fumble recovery led to the Chargers’ first touchdown.

Quick Takes

Quarterback Justin Herbert had the least productive performance of his season, finishing with 20-of-32 passing for 187 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.

Herbert was unable to have much success down the field, like previous weeks, because the Dolphins did a great job of eliminating his top targets and keeping his head swirling with the various blitz packages.

To take some pressure off of Herbert, the coaching staff resorted to the running game, where running back Kalen Ballage had another productive outing. Ballage finished with 68 yards on 18 carries. He also added 34 yards on five receptions.

The coaching staff resorted to the running game to keep pressure off of Herbert, but some of it led to many third-down situations for Herbert.

The Chargers failed to have a skill player go for over 40 yards through the air. Wide receiver Keenan Allen led the pack with only 39 yards on three catches.

Lack of defensive execution led to the Dolphins scoring almost all of their points. The ones that stung the most were the close interceptions by linebackers by Kenneth Murray and Denzel Perryman.

The run defense was lackluster, once again. Undrafted running back Salvon Ahmed ran for 85 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Just like previous weeks, gap integrity and missed tackles continued to be the reasoning for it.

Special teams is a major area of concern. The unit allowed a blocked punt and committed two special teams penalties, all of which turned into points for Miami.

A bright spot in coverage was cornerback Michael Davis, who had two passes defended, both of which came in crucial moments.

The pass rush was nonexistent for the second straight week. Defensive end Joey Bosa’s absence has been evident.

Up Next

The Chargers return home to take on the Jets. Next Sunday’s game will be at 1:05 p.m. PT and will be televised on CBS.