Dolphins 17, Chargers 10
The Dolphins came off a convincing win over the Patriots with another win over a very competitive team. The Chargers weren’t able to get their offense going at all, Ladainian Tomlinson who could of surpassed 11,000 yards did not only gaining 35 yards, needing 54 to surpass 11,000. And Philip Rivers was kept to 159 yards and 1 touchdown, with Rivers looking to be injured in the first play of the game but he played the rest of the game.
The Dolphins used the wildcat formation on most of the beginning drives and was highly successful on 2 of the 11 times using it, one allowing Ronnie Brown to run in for a touchdown. Sparano feels that small gains on the wildcat are fine “of the things you do here…and again, it’s a little bit of our identity…but four yards is a good play.”.
Ronnie Brown for the second straight game had an amazing performance juking and pummelling the Chargers defense for 125 yards and 1 touchdown, Not as impressive as his 5 touchdown feat at New England but still impressive none the less. Brown actually looked better than Tomlinson, but Tomlinson having the toe injury didn’t help him much. Greg Camarillo as well who caught the only passing touchdown for the Dolphins looked good, bringing in some tough catches and gaining some yards, he had 6 catches for 68 yards. His smarts on the field help him to get open and get down the field, for a waiver wire pick up by Cam Cameron and the savior of last years season he certainly has been a surprise.
The game came close at the end, but an amazing stop on 4th and 1 at the 1 held the Chargers from tying and stops after 3 and outs by the offense. Yeremiah Bell was a big part of the defense stopping the run and deflecting passes, as well as Matt Roth who brough constant pressure all day long and got a sack.
It certainly wasn’t a pretty win for the Dolphins towards the end of the game, but it certainly was a win and it doubled the win amount from last year. Tony Sparano, Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland and the whole staff should be commended for actually doing productive things this year. I wasn’t expecting much out of this season and seeing the Dolphins beat the two teams who were last in the AFC Championship, was amazing. Next week is the Texans, who seem to always beat the Dolphins no matter what. After their collapse this week against the Colts it should be an interesting matchup.
