Chargers beat Dolphins to stay in the playoff race, face Titans on Sunday

The Los Angeles Chargers entered SoFi Stadium last Sunday Night in desperate need of a win to stay in the AFC playoff race. The Chargers were 2-3 at home this season and coming off a loss to the Raiders. They were facing the 8-4 Miami Dolphins. At 6-6, another loss would be a setback in their quest to make the playoffs. But fortunately for the Chargers, they have Justin Herbert at quarterback.

Herbert pitched a masterpiece, completing 39 of 51 passes for 367 yards, and using a ball-control passing attack to keep the ball away from the Dolphins explosive offense in leading the Chargers to a dominant six-point win, 23-17. The win improved the Chargers record to 7-6 and dropped the Dolphins to 8-5 for the season. The Chargers passing attack controlled the football for 39:38 of the 60-minute football game, holding the Dolphins time of possession to 20:22. The Chargers outgained the Dolphins on offense, 432 yards to 219 yards. They ran 78 offensive plays to 49 for the Dolphins. They had 24 first downs to 14 for the Dolphins. The Chargers never trailed in the game. They were in control of the game from start to finish.

Herbert continues to shatter NFL passing records. He has thrown for 13,056 passing yards in three seasons, which passed the previous best of 12,957 yards by quarterback Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts. Herbert still has four more regular season games to add to more yardage to the record.

Herbert did an excellent job of moving outside of the pocket in the game. According to Next Gen Stats, Herbert completed 13 passes in the game while on the run in the game, two more than any other quarterback since 2016.

It also helped to have both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen play an entire game together, the first time that has happened this season. Williams caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Allen caught 12 passes for 92 yards. With Williams and Allen both on the field, Herbert was able to get better matchups and spread the ball around, as nine different receivers had receptions for the Chargers in the game.

Charger head coach Brandon Staley clearly had a bounce in his step after the game. This was a big win for the Chargers, and he was effusive in his praise of everyone associated with the Chargers. "I think that it was an incredible team effort on defense," Staley said. "It was an incredible team win for us."

There was no hiding how Staley felt about his quarterback. "Justin was fantastic tonight," Staley said. "I thought that he played with great energy tonight that really affected his teammates in a positive way. He made a lot of winning plays, really good decisions throughout the game. He can really see the field. The scrambles were huge for us."

The Charger defense was on the field for just 48 defensive plays, which helped. Pro Bowl safety Derwin James, the Chargers leader on defense, missed the game due to a quadriceps injury. Defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day was out with a knee injury, and slot cornerback Bryce Callahan missed the game with a groin injury. But other players came up big on defense.

On one defensive series early in the second quarter, linebacker Kyle Van Noy tackled running back Jeff Wilson for a three-yard loss and followed that up with a sack of Dolphin quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for a six-yard loss to force a punt. Late in the third quarter, a sack of Tagovailoa by defensive end Morgan Fox ended another Dolphin possession and forced a punt.

In the defensive secondary, the Chargers defensive backs were pressing the Dolphin receivers at the line of scrimmage, to help slow them down. "Don't let fast guys run down the field," Staley said. "When you let fast guys run down the field, with as fast as they are, and you let them run through zones with no one around, then it's going to turn into a track meet. Guess what, you're not as fast as they are. No one is. No one is as fast as they are. If you want a chance, you have to get closer to them."

That also helped to slow down Tagovailoa, who struggled to find open receivers. Tagovailoa completed just 10 of 28 pass attempts for 145 yards.

The Chargers were able to get the win by controlling the ball via the air. It is unusual for a team to control the football for almost 40 minutes and only rush for 82 yards. But that is what the Chargers did on Sunday Night. That was a formula for winning the game against the Dolphins, but that may not work as well against future opponents.

On the other hand, at this point of the season, they may just have to ride Herbert's arm. He does not mind at all. "As a quarterback, selfishly, I would love to throw the ball," Herbert said. "I wish we could throw it every single down. I think it's just kind of the game plan that we went with. We knew that it was going to be that type of game."

The Chargers are currently tied for the 7th and final playoff berth with the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. The Patriots, the Jets, the Dolphins, and the Buffalo Bills are all in the same division, the AFC East. These four teams will beat up on each other over the next four weeks and that will help the Chargers if they can win their games.

The Chargers will take on the Tennessee Titans this Sunday, December 18th, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Game time is slated for 1:25pm and the game will be televised locally on CBS. The Titans come in with a record of 7-6 and have a three-game losing streak. Despite the losing streak, they are in first place in the AFC South, with a two-game lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Titans are led by All-Pro running back Derrick Henry, who is second in the NFL in rushing yardage with 1,199 yards rushing. It is expected that the Titans will lean heavily on Henry on Sunday against the Chargers and their struggling run defense.

This is a game the Chargers need to win. After the Titans game, the Chargers are at Indianapolis, back home to play the Rams, and finish the season in Denver against the Broncos. The last three games are against teams with losing records. While no game in the NFL is easy, beating the Titans would put the Chargers in a good position to win a playoff berth, while a loss to the Titans would mean that the Chargers would need to win their final three games to have a shot at a playoff berth.