That the Miami Dolphins would have their hands full with Justin Herbert on Sunday night wasn't necessarily shocking, but their inability to take advantage of an injury-ravaged Los Angeles Chargers defense most definitely was.
The combination was a disappointing 23-17 loss that left the Dolphins with an 8-5 record and dropped them two games back of the Buffalo Bills atop the AFC East standings heading into their Week 15 showdown next Saturday night.
Herbert completed 39 of 51 passes for 367 yards with one touchdown and a 102.3 passer rating despite the Dolphins putting constant pressure on him.
Tyreek Hill scored two touchdowns for the Dolphins, both on long plays, the first coming on one of the most incredible plays in franchise history.
He officially scored on a 57-yard fumble return after picking up the ball from the turf after the Chargers defense stripped running back Jeff Wilson Jr. at the end of a running play.
Hill also had a 60-yard touchdown reception to bring the Dolphins to within 17-14 in the third quarter.
DOLPHINS OFFENSE HAS ROUGH NIGHT
But it was a struggle for the most part for the Dolphins offense, which finished with only 219 total yards.
It was the second consecutive sub-par performance by the offense, but the one in Week 13 came against the top-ranked San Francisco 49ers defense.
But this performance came against a Chargers defense that came in ranked 27th in total yards allowed and had three starters on their active roster missing because of injuries.
Still, the Dolphins gave themselves the chance to pull out a miracle comeback after Jason Sanders made a 55-yard field goal in the final minute — his first successful kick beyond 50 yards this season.
The Dolphins even had a chance at recovering the onside kick after the ball went off the leg of Chargers wide receiver Josh Palmer, but L.A. was able to get the ball to clinch the victory.
PASSING GAME OUT OF SYNC
While Herbert put up big numbers, Tua Tagovailoa finished only 10-for-28 for 145 yards with one touchdown, no interception and a passer rating — a season low in a game he finished.
But it wasn't all about Tua being off the mark in the passing game because the offense just looked out of sync from the start.
Tagovailoa seemed out of rhythm and the Dolphins receivers didn't get open like they have throughout the season, which was surprising after Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams burned the Chargers secondary for eight catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns a week ago.
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One play that epitomized the struggles came early when Tua threw what looked like an on-target deep pass down the middle to Hill, but Hill looked like he lost track of the ball somewhere along the way.
Aside from his touchdowns, it wasn't a typical performance for Hill, who struggled with a lower leg injury throughout the second half.
The Dolphins never really took advantage of the Chargers' dreadful run defense — their average of 5.4 yards per carry allowed coming into the game was on track for the worst since the 1950s — and it didn't help that running back Jeff Wilson Jr. left the game with a hip injury that led to him being carted into the locker room.
In fact, the Dolphins' most productive rusher in the game was Tagovailoa, who gained 28 yards on three scrambles.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FOR DOLPHINS DEFENSE
The defense gave up a lot of passing yards, but did come up with some big plays, along with four sacks — one each by Jerome Baker, Jaelan Phillips, Eric Rowe and Christian Wilkins, who was nothing short of dominant throughout the game.
And Phillips actually should have had two sacks, but was robbed of one by a ridiculous roughing-the-passer penalty.
The first big play on defense came when cornerback Kader Kohou tackled DeAndre Carter out of bounds at the 2-yard line on fourth-and-goal at the end of the Chargers' first drive.
The Chargers did take a 3-0 lead on their next drive, and the Dolphins would play from behind the entire night.
A 10-yard touchdown pass from Herbert to Mike Williams, who finished with six catches for 116 yards, made it 10-0 before Hill scored his improbably touchdown.
A key swing in the game came at the end of the first half when the Chargers marched 90 yards for a touchdown in the final four minutes, scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when their second gamble paid off with Austin Ekeler's touchdown run.
After Hill's second touchdown made it 17-14, the Chargers came back with Cameron Dicker's second of three field goals to make it 20-14.
The Dolphins had a chance to take the lead after getting the ball early in the fourth quarter down six, but their drive stalled after it reached the Chargers 43-yard line, with a 10-yard penalty on Tua for intentional grounding the key play.
The defense then wasn't able to stop Herbert on what became the game-clinching drive, a 79-yard march that consumed 8:39 of the fourth quarter.
The Chargers converted three third-down situations on the drive, the last a third-and-8 where Herbert scrambled for 10 yards, to set up Dicker's third touchdown.
The Dolphins were set to head back to South Florida after the game after a disappointing trip to California that featured the two losses against the 49ers and Chargers, but still very much in the thick of the AFC playoff picture.
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Dolphins Come Up Short Again in California - Sports Illustrated
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