How Brandon Staley's Injury-Plagued Defense Executed a Strong Game Plan That Restricted the Dolphins' Passing Attack
The Chargers entered Sunday's game against the Dolphins without six of their starters on defense. Just when the Week 14 matchup could’ve turned into an offensive slugfest with Miami featuring the No. 2 passing attack in the league, the Chargers executed a game plan that has opened the book on slowing down the Dolphins' big-play offense.
Without contributions from Joey Bosa, Austin Johnson, Sebastian Joseph-Day, J.C. Jackson, Bryce Callahan and Derwin James as a result of injury, the Chargers still held the Dolphins to 219 total yards and 17 points.
So how did the Chargers formulate a game plan that was so effective?
It all stemmed from the starting point at the line of scrimmage. The Chargers routinely disrupted the Dolphins' receivers at the start of their routes. The defensive backs of the Chargers prioritized not allowing Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, two of the fastest players in the league, to run freely through zones without facing contact.
“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," Chargers coach Brandon Staley said. "Guess what, you’re not as fast as they are. No one is. That’s why you see them do to people what they do because they’re really, really good. If you want a chance, you have to get closer to them.”
The Chargers played press coverage a season-high 35% of the time against the Dolphins, per Next Gen Stats. The only reception the Dolphins completed against press coverage was Hill's 60-yard touchdown in which Michael Davis was in position to make a play, but got his feet tangled up and fell to the ground just before the ball arrived.
Staley shared Monday with reporters via Zoom that when they weren’t playing prototypical press coverage, they played a pattern match coverage, which resembles a form of pressing the opposition.
"Our goal was to be close to them whether we were in pattern match zone, or man-to-man," Staley said, "We played a healthy amount of both last night and I think that the tape will reflect that."
Without James available, the Chargers' do-it-all playmaker, they simplified their concepts that catered towards the team's less-experienced players, which led to encouraging results.
"When you’re playing with as many new guys in a game plan, the last thing that you want to do is jerk them around, when you’re playing with as many backups as we were on both levels," Staley said. "What you don’t want is a bunch of in-and-out of the game. We’re used to doing that when we’re at full strength. We’re used to doing it because we built our front lines to be able to play that way. That’s kind of a hallmark of the way we play.
"But when you get cleaned out, what you really want to do is take an approach where you feel like you can get consistency from the group out there so that they can play fast. Then, have enough disguise, have enough variation within that grouping of what you’re playing — blitzes, coverages, all that — so that they can get in a comfort zone."
The simplicity led to receiving quality play from a handful of their depth players, including safety Alohi Gilman and rookie Ja'Sir Taylor, who logged his first NFL start.
Gilman made three tackles, one forced fumble and had a pass breakup on the first play of the game on a deep ball from Tua Tagovailoa intended to Hill.
"I think a lot of guys, when they play them, they play them a little softer" Gilman said after the win. "But for us, we were trying to be aggressive with them because they got gas and speed. We wanted to be aggressive. Make them feel that pressure because it's easier for them when you just sit back and they're able to dink and dunk."
Davis, who's been re-inserted as a full-time starting cornerback since Jackson suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 7, was a pivotal part in the Chargers preventing the explosives through the air to the Dolphins.
They moved Davis around the field, covering both Hill and Waddle, while also occupying coverage on tight end Mike Gesicki at times. Davis allowed three receptions for 74 yards, per Pro Football Focus. However, as mentioned previously, 60 of those yards allowed came on a play Davis was in solid position to permutably even intercept the pass but was tripped up, leading to a big gain.
Staley said they've tried getting more out of Davis' big-body frame, using his length to their advantage when pressing defenders. As a result, aside from the lone chunk play when he hit the deck, Davis was near-perfect against two of the top field-stretchers in the NFL.
"We've challenged him to be more physical at the line of scrimmage. I think we challenged him to use his hands and get on people, really use that length to steer people," Staley said. "We know that he's a strong guy. He's long-armed, he's experienced and just taking that fight to the opponent and just playing with confidence."
The Chargers' game plan was masterful, limiting Tagovailoa to 10-of-28 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. It was their most complete performance of the season and the collective execution enabled that with several players coming off the bench and rising to the occasion.
Staley said it was the most connected he felt the team has played this season, stemming from a superior game plan in which the players came together and produced the way it was drawn up throughout the week.
"It was an incredible team win for us. You just saw the confidence that our guys were playing with, how hard we played — that’s what I’m really proud of, how hard we played and how connected we were," he said. "I felt like, defensively, we just answered all of the challenges in the game that we had to face."
The Chargers will take aim at duplicating their efforts in Week 15 at SoFi Stadium when the Titans come to town, riding a three-game losing streak.
*Get your Chargers tickets from SI Tickets by clicking here
Read more from Charger Report:
- Takeaways From Chargers' 23-17 Week 14 Win Over Dolphins
- Chargers Put Together Complete Performance Against Dolphins in Must-Have Game
- Live In-Game Updates: Chargers vs. Dolphins Week 14
- Pregame Report: Chargers vs. Dolphins Week 14
- How Ryan Ficken Has Transformed the Chargers' Special Teams Unit Into a Successful Operation
Nick Cothrel is the publisher of Charger Report. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel for more Chargers coverage.
