AFC West: Week 2 takeaways for Raiders, Broncos and Chargers
Los Angeles Chargers 17, Miami Dolphins 19
The Los Angeles Chargers continued to be one-dimensional on offense against the Miami Dolphins. The Chargers could only gain 44 yards on the ground on 14 carries. This was an even worse outing than last week, where the Chargers only ran for 64 yards on 22 carries. Melvin Gordon continues to be extremely inefficient. Gordon netted just 13 yards on 9 rushing attempts with 11 of those yards coming on one play. Backup running back Branden Oliver had a little more success with 3 carries for 31 yards with a long of 26. Gordon was able to score a short yardage touchdown, so at least there was some good news.
The Dolphins have a defensive line that is anchored by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. However, last season they were not a good run defense. In 2016, the Dolphins ranked 30th against the run. They allowed over 2,200 rushing yards and allowed 4.8 yards per carry. This was not a unit that was significantly improved through free agency or the draft either. The Chargers inability to run the ball against the Dolphins has to be a big concern.
The Chargers put themselves in a position to win the game with a reasonable 44 yard field goal attempt. In today’s NFL, that is a high percentage shot. During the 2016 season, NFL kickers made 235 out of 296 field goal attempts from a range of 40-49 yards. It is hard to fault Chargers coach Anthony Lynn for putting his team in a scenario that would result in a victory 79.3% of the time.
However, the Chargers could have improved their chances. With 19 seconds left on 2nd and 1, the Chargers elected to have Philip Rivers run laterally to put the ball in the center of the field. That play could have been used to run another pass play to gain even more yardage. Nineteen seconds is plenty of time to run a play and spike the ball to stop the clock. Even a short 5 to 10 yard gain would have increased the odds of success immensely. In 2016, kickers made 279 out of 304 attempts from the 30-39 yard range. That is 91.8%, a significant increase over the 79.3% success rate noted earlier. Those extra percentage points would have come in handy with a rookie kicker, especially when he already missed a 43-yard field goal earlier in the game.
Quick Notes
Antonio Gates scored his 112th career receiving touchdown which is the most for a tight end in NFL history. He surpassed longtime Chief Tony Gonzalez who had 111 career touchdowns. Pro Bowl cornerback Jason Verrett did not play. He was out due to soreness in his knee. This was the same knee that he had surgery on to repair a torn ACL.