So what did we learn from them for this week? I just saw the stat line, looks like they had a furious comeback but fell short. Rivers with decent numbers, but hard to run against Denver Defense. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Who stayed up? I saw Denver's first TD then went to bed because I work and stuff. The Dolphins HAVE TO!!!! win what's essentially their post bye week game against a team on a short week. It's also San Di ERRRRR LA's Home Opener in this MLS Stadium they're playing in. I can't see a 30,000 seat stadium being much of a home field advantage. We saw from the Rams game, that the LA fan base is "soft".
Furious comeback because Denver threw an INT and then Jamaal Charles fumbled the ball. We just have to avoid turning the ball over like that, especially late in the second half. I like Tunsil over Bosa but Melvin Ingram is a problem. He's small, speedy, and can bend. I would prefer we keep it on the ground and keep Rivers off the field. We have to be able to handle Cory Liuget too. If we can get ahead, then hopefully he'll start taking more risks. We intercepted him like 4 times last year. Keenan Allen is back and looks like he hasn't missed a game, Melvin Gordon is a dependable back, Travis Benjamin has speed. I'm definitely not overlooking them. I'm hoping we can outcoach Anthony Lynn, but an elite quarterback has a way of masking potential deficiencies of a new head coach. We'll see. I expect it to be a shootout, honestly. A lot of teams struggled offensively week 1. I hope it's not the case for us. San Diego had a game to get a little bit of rhythm, we haven't.
They move Bosa around quite a bit though, right? Saw him lined up a lot over the RT last night. James is going to have his hands full when facing him... all of the OL really, the Charger's front 4 is pretty good.
I taped the game to watch but haven't finished it yet. Thru 3 quarters here's my observations. Defense pressured Siemen all night long. Joey Bosa was a beast and teamed with the other DE they had pressure all night in the back field. They did pin their ears back and rush almost all night long and can be open to screens but make up speed is good. Very good corners in coverage but weren't setting the edge on running plays. Corners kept taking inside route and getting sealed. WR's made some great catches on balls that were put into tight windows. Offense got going in second half. Looked a little rusty. O line got beat against edge rushers. Good blocking inside opened up middle runs. Guards seal blocks. Big TE's but a little lumbering IMO. WR's didn't impress me.
Joey Bosa is a technician with considerable strength, but so is Laremy Tunsil. Melvin Ingram is the guy that has the leverage and speed. I'm more concerned about him. I think he's more likely to create his own sacks than Joey Bosa.
Constrict the pocket against rivers..he loses arm strength and makes mental mistakes....not an elite qb
Denver's pressure really hurt them. SD stuck with the run but were not efficient. SD was resilient though. Late turnovers by Denver gave Rivers the opportunity to hurt them with some nice passes late. We'll need to play 60 minutes to beat them. Their pass offense is very timing based. Disrupting the receiver routes w/o getting flagged is key. Rivers will throw to a spot expecting his guy to get there. That late INT was a key example. People will call it a bad decision, but it wasn't. Rivers released the pass before the break. The DB held the receiver as he cut long enough to knock him off balance but short enough not to get the call and then beat the him to the spot. Pressure and then coverage on the releasing backs will also be important. On offense, quick passes and balance will be needed to negate their outside rushers. Our passing game is better than Denver's, but Jay will have to pick his spots where he holds the ball for those deeper shots. If we can establish Ajayi and get their D focused on stopping him then deep shots will be available. I think we can win if we avoid turnovers and STs gaffes. The wildcard is whether we come out slow/flat relative to a team that already has one real game under their belt.
Spot on. LA's run game could gash us if we can't lock it down. That's going to be my biggest concern here. If we can't hold up against the run then it could bring everything else down around it.
My crystal ball says... Q1: Highlights Melvin Gordon catches the Miami defense off-guard, leading the Chargers into the redzone. A very clutch Cameron Wake sack forces a field goal. +3 LA Jakeem Grant returns the ensuing kickoff for 52 yards, ending on Miami's own 48. Jay Cutler connects with DeVante Parker down the seam for a 33-yard touchdown. +7 MIA Joey Bosa forces a Jay Ajayi fumble at the end of the quarter. MIA: 7 LA: 3 Q2: Highlights Gordon batters his way down the field, ending in a goal-line touchdown from Derek Watt. +7 LA Xavien Howard jumps a Tyrell Williams route for an interception. Jay Ajayi breaks free for a 22-yard gain. JayCutler connects with DeVante Parker for a 12-yard endzone strike. +7 MIA A balanced Dolphins drive results in a field goal. +3 MIA MIA: 17 LA: 10 Q3: Highlights After a Dolphins 3-and-out to open the half, Melvin Gordon once again marches his team down the field and scores off a 15-yard breakaway. +7 LA Jay Cutler is pressured on the right side and throws a poor pass into double coverage, resulting in a Tre Boston interception. The Miami defense stiffens, however, and forces a punt. A methodical drive ensues at the end of the quarter, as a series of third-down conversions from Jarvis Landry, Jay Ajayi, and Damien Williams end in a field goal. +3 MIA MIA: 20 LA: 17 Q4: Highlights After a quiet 4th quarter, Reshad Jones catches Travis Benjamin on a slant and forces a fumble with a heavy hit. Lawrence Timmons recovers. The Miami offense marches 54 yards and capitalizes with a Jay Ajayi touchdown. +7 MIA MIA: 27 LA: 17 Verdict: After some early woes, the Miami defense stiffened. The corners were phenomenal, shutting down any semblance of a passing game from Philip Rivers and Co. There was a noticeable difference in the defense, with Reshad Jones and Lawrence Timmons adding an element of maturity and swagger. Jay Ajayi and Melvin Gordon battled all game long, and while Gordon tallied more total yards, it was the Jay Cutler-DeVante Parker connection that made the difference. Dolphins fans will be concerned about the run-defense, but should be pleasantly surprised by the aptitude of the secondary and the explosive potential of the offense. The left side of the offensive line looks solid; the right side may experience some difficulties. Adam Gase looked to have years of experience on rookie head coach Anthony Lynn, but a surprising crowd turnout in LA caused some disruptions for a Miami offense that is still gelling. Ultimately, these Dolphins have room to grow, but appear to have the fire power to compete with anyone in the league.
Read that the Chargers moved their starting Center, Slausen, to LG next to a hobbling Okung, and have a rookie starting at Center. Wake should dry hump their RT all day, while Branch and/or Harris should eat up LT, Okung, with the dinged up ankle. Suh and Godchaux or Phillips should beast on that rookie OC. Feel pretty confident that our attacking front is going to feast and have Philip crying Rivers.
Let's not forget that Denver had the #1 rated pass defense last year. They gave up on average 185.8 passing yards per game, only 13 passing TD's all year with an opponent passer rating of 69.7. Against Denver yesterday, Rivers passed for 192 yards, threw 3 TD's and had a passer rating of 99.6! Hate to say it but don't expect us to emulate what Denver did. One bright spot is that Denver and Miami both had similarly bad rush defenses: we were 3rd worst and they were 5th worst in 2016. We gave up 140.4 rushing YPG while Denver gave up 130.3 YPG. And the Chargers could only rush for 64 total yards yesterday? Even accounting for rush yards increasing when you're ahead, and the Chargers weren't, that's really low. So our weakness on defense (rush defense) may not hurt us much here. IMO.. if there's anything to take away from yesterday's game it's that our defense should be able to keep us in the game, but our offense needs to put up 24+ points to win. Cutler vs. Rivers. Let the game begin!
I agree with everything you said EXCEPT the score- I would guess 34-17 Fins. And I think Grant will catch the first TD pass after Ajayi bulldozes the first few plays.
San Diego should beat us handedly. But we tend to be gritty so maybe we can keep it close. San Diego has a ton of offensive firepower. I will be surprised if we can keep them under 20. Their defense should be improved. So unless we can win a shootout I see them beating us 31-17. Not the end of the world. We can bounce ba k the following week
STUB HUB is way better than the coliseum and in a better location and better all around experience the coliseum is needing the upgrades for the Olympics, stub hub is loud with minimal seating been to couple soccer games, the stadium is going to be louder than the rams and most likely a lot more people. I could be wrong about the people but ILL BE THERE!!!
my gut says 24-17 Chargers by a late td from ajayi to make it that. My heart says 24-28 Miami on a final drive td.
We've totally embarrassed the Chargers the last two times we played them. We own them. Plus is that we;re pissed that we havent been able to play yet so we're so far up on the starter's block we're going to destroy them.
And better the Rams than the Chargers. Remember those cheating bast@rds? Our last best chance to win a Super Bowl? Ask Don Shula how he feels about our last playoff game against the Chargers? Cheating scum is how The Don would remember that game, until the day he dies.
We will need to get Ajayi going to neutralize the pass rush. We will need to actually tackle well to stop the offense. Simple formula executed and I think we win.
What are the odds a lot of Dolphins fans attend the game? I expect something close to a neutral field, certainly no real issues with crowd noise given the small size of the stadium and mixed crowd. I will happily take an ugly win for this game. The Chargers have played a real game and have had a chance to correct some mistakes. I hope Gase found some things he can exploit from the Denver film to tip the scales back in our favor.
IIRC, we won by a TD last time and the time before that, they blew US out. Three games ago is when we took them to the shed. Nice of the LA Rams, I think McVay owed Gase because Gase was giving him new coach tips during the offseason.
Hard to know what to expect against the Chargers. When we play them it seems to go many ways. Hopefully the Phins play rested instead of rusty and come out strong. O-Line will be getting quite a test. Have a good feeling but a bit nervous - excited to see what they do either way.