Dolphins-Chargers: The Five Biggest Plays
The Miami Dolphins kicked off their 2023 season with a thrilling 36-34 victory against. the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:
1. Tua's 47-Yard Completion to Tyreek Hill
In a game where Tua passed for 466 yards and the Dolphins amassed 536 total yards, there obviously were a lot of candidates for the top spot, but this clutch completion on third-and-10 on the game-winning drive takes the prize. Consider that Tua threw the ball moving forward after stepping up in the pocket and perfectly led Hill, then add the game circumstances, and we'll put it up with the best throws of Tua's career, if not THE best. Had Tua not delivered that pass on target, the Dolphins would have been facing a fourth-and-10 from their 25 with just over 3 minutes left.
2. The Game-Winning TD Pass
Once the Dolphins got a first-and-goal at the 9, it became merely a question of how and when they would score to take the lead. And, fittingly enough, it was Tua and Hill combining again with a touch pass in the corner of the end zone that took advantage of cornerback Michael Davis never turning around to spot a ball that floated barely over his head. Kudos there not only for the throw but for Hill never giving away that the ball was coming until the last second.
3. The Kader Kohou Sack
The Dolphins were looking at a bad momentum swing after J.C. Jackson picked off Tua in the end zone with the Chargers leading 24-20 late in the third quarter, but they never let it happen. After Jackson made the foolish decision to take the ball out of the end zone and was pushed out of bounds at the 4, the Chargers faced a third-and-1 from their 13-yard line. Despite their success running the ball all game, the Chargers decided to have Justin Herbert pass out of the shotgun formation and the Dolphins made them pay by blitzing Kohou from the edge. Kohou then showed off his tackling ability — as good as any Dolphins CB since Vontae Davis — by bringing down Herbert at the 1-yard. One punt and one Tua pass to Tyreek Hill later, the Dolphins were back in the lead at 27-24.
4. The Game-Clinching Sack
More than just the final play, the whole last defensive sequence deserves mention because it featured the pass rush creating a big play on three of the four downs, with a grounding penalty, a sack by Zach Sieler and a shared sack by Jaelan Phillips and Justin Bethel. The Dolphins never gave Herbert a chance on the fourth-and-12 as they immediately collapsed the pocket before bringing him down.
5. The Fourth-and-7 Conversion
Again, this was a whole crazy sequence that provided the Dolphins with a 20-17 lead at halftime after the Dolphins used the final 9 seconds of the half to get a 22-yard completion from Tua to Jaylen Waddle before throwing a Hail Mary that put the ball at the Chargers 23-yard line when Jackson decided to shove Erik Ezukanma in the back in the open field. But before that, head coach Mike McDaniel made another aggressive decision, going for it on fourth-and-7 from the Chargers 42 with 3:09 left in the half and the Dolphins trailing 14-10. The Dolphins converted with a 10-yard completion to Durham Smythe and went on to score a touchdown on the drive to take a 17-14 lead. A failed fourth-down conversion there would have given the Chargers the chance to extend their 14-10 lead heading into halftime.
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