Dolphins-Chargers Week 1 Complete Observations

Breaking down the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' thrilling 36-34 Week 1 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' 36-34 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

-- As always, we'll start with the inactive list, which was headed by Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead and also included rookie third-round pick De'Von Achane, a move that eye-opening perhaps but not necessarily surprising.

-- Also inactive were WR Cedrick Wilson Jr., DB Elijah Campbell and TE Julian Hill.

-- Among those active were 2022 fourth-round pick Erik Ezukanma, who got the nod over Wilson, and DB Justin Bethel, who had been listed as questionable with a knee injury on the final injury report of the week.

-- Skylar Thompson was designated as the third quarterback, allowing him to be uniform and come into the game (but only if Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White both were injured).

FIRST QUARTER

-- In a starting lineup note, it indeed was Isaiah Wynn who started at left guard — after coaches refused to answer that question throughout the week.

-- After the Chargers won the toss and deferred, the Dolphins put together a brilliant first drive before it ended in disaster when a bad center-QB exchange on first-and-goal from the 2-yard line produced a fumble that the Chargers recovered.

-- Before that, though, the Dolphins had gains of 16, 35 and 12 yards, with some creative play-calling, some of the same formula as last year and the speed of Hill and Waddle.

-- Waddle had the long gain, a 36-yard pick-up, after easily beating J.C. Jackson from the slot with a quick slant and then using his speed to get outside.

-- Erik Ezukanma showed a replay of something he did in the preseason with a nifty 12-yard gain on an end-around, thanks with some good blocking in front of him.

-- Replays seemed to indicate there was nothing wrong with the snap from Connor Williams and that Tua Tagovailoa just dropped the ball, which the Chargers recovered at their 6-yard line.

-- The Dolphins defense's appearance of the season was highly disappointing, with the Chargers marching 94 yards, all but two of them running plays.

-- The Chargers converted two third-down situations, each of them on scrambles by Justin Herbert.

-- The big play of the drive was a 36-yard completion from Herbert to Keenan Allen, who was being covered by linebacker David Long Jr. That's clearly not a good matchup for the Dolphins.

-- The longest run of the drive was only 10 yards, but there were four other rushes by running backs that gained 6 yards. That's kinda surprising given how good the Dolphins run defense was last sseason.

-- The Dolphins marched the ball downfield again on their second possession, but this one ended with a touchdown.

-- After Tua underthrew Tyreek Hill on a deep pass on first down, he came right back with a strike down the middle of the field to River Cracraft for a 24-yard gain.

-- On a third-down run where Ezukanma lined up in the backfield and gained the first down, Williams was flagged for holding down the field when he held on longer than he should have against linebacker Eric Kendricks, who wasn't going to be able to make the tackle anyway.

-- The Dolphins converted the ensuing third-and-6 thanks to a nice escape from Tua in the pocket combined with a dart to Braxton Berrios. That came after Joey Bosa grabbed Tua's facemask in the backfield and the gain plus penalty put the ball at the 14-yard line.

-- Raheem Mostert then gained 12 yards through a gaping hole at the line before fighting his way through for a 2-yard touchdown.

-- The quarter ended with the Chargers facing a third-and-2 after a running play and the Dolphins defense doing a good job of not jumping as Herbert lined up in shotgun trying to get an offside and free first down.

SECOND QUARTER

-- The Dolphins got the stop after a false start when Jaelan Phillps' pressure from the outside disrupted the pocket and led to an incompletion.

-- The Dolphins was at it again on their third drive, moving 57 yards on two quick plays when Tua connected with Tyreek Hill deep over the middle for 29 and 28 yards. On the first play, Hill was matched up against Jackson, who the Dolphins victimized again in a way they never did when Jackson was with New England.

-- The Dolphins then moved to a first-and-goal at the 5 on a nifty bootleg pass to fullback Alec Ingold for a 15-yard gain.

-- The drive stalled after Hill caught a pass at the 1-yard line on second down, but the Chargers won their challenge that his second foot came down out of bounds.

-- On third drive, Tua tried to fit a pass to Durham Smythe in the end zone, but safety Derwin James knocked the ball away with a nice defensive play.

-- The Dolphins lead didn't last very long, and it was the run defense that again was the culprit.

-- Austin Ekeler broke loose for a 55-yard gain to the Dolphins 9-yard line when he burst through a hole over the middle where Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis were cleared out by the Chargers line.

-- The Dolphins had their first three-and-out on offense on the next drive despite a really good 8-yard run by Salvon Ahmed where he broke a tackle attempt by James in the backfield.

-- Tua underthrew Waddle deep on first down, then tried to squeeze a thrown downfield over the middle to Smythe on third-and-2 despite Smythe being surrounded by three defenders.

-- Justin Bethel showed his value on special teams when he tackled explosive rookie Derius Davis after only a 3-yard return on the ensuing punt.

-- The Dolphins answered the Chargers' defensive three-and-out  even after giving up a 7-yard gain on first down.

-- Christian Wilkins made the tackles on second and third down, though it was linebacker Jerome Baker who blew up a third-and-2 shovel pass to rookie Quentin Johnston.

-- The Dolphins' next drive featured a lot of Durham Smythe, who caught passes for 18, 16 and 10 yards.

-- That last one came on fourth-and-7 from the Chargers with 3;09 left in the half when Mike McDaniel decided to get uber-aggressive. Smythe released late and found himself wide open to the left of the formation.

-- Two plays later, Tua connected with Hill down the middle for a 19-yard line to the Chargers 13 at the two-minute warning.

-- The Dolphins capped the drive with a touchdown after three more completions from Tua, the last a 1-yarder to Cracraft for a touchdown that gave Miami a 17-14 lead.

-- After that touchdown drive, the Dolphins had 304 yards of offense, including 242 passing yards by Tua.

-- The Dolphins had a chance to get off the field on the next drive, but gave up a completion to Keenan Allen, followed by two more pick-ups of 11 and 15 to get the Chargers into field goal range.

-- Cameron Dicker's 50-yard field goal tied the score 17-17 with 9 seconds left.

-- But, yeah, the Dolphins weren't going to just kneel, so Tua threw a 22-yard completion to Waddle that put the ball at the 47 with 2 seconds  left before the Dolphins got a 30-yard DPI penalty on Jackson against Ezukanma, giving them a chance at a 41-yard field goal attempt that Jason Sanders nailed for a 20-17 Dolphins lead at the half.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The third quarter began with another disappointing effort from the Dolphins defense who let the Chargers march 75 yards for a touchdown without a single completion by Herbert.

-- The drive featured 57 rushing yards, including a 14-yard run by Joshua Kelley and an 11-yard run by Ekeler, but also three penalties on the defense.

-- Xavien Howard was flagged for defensive pass interference, including one in the end zone, which was followed by another penalty on the Dolphins for too many men on the field.

-- Herbert's touchdown put the Dolphins behind 24-20.

-- After going pass-heavy for most of the first half, the Dolphins ran on each of the four first-down plays on their opening drive of the half, though those plays totaled exactly minus-1 yard.

-- The Dolphins got into scoring position anyway, thanks in large part to a 30-yard connection from Tua to HIll.

-- But the drive ended on a third-and-12 from the Chargers 26 when Tua tried to force the issue with a pass to Braxton Berrios in the end zone. It was picked off by Jackson after a slight shove that under certain circumstances will draw a flag.

-- Jackson made the bad decision of getting out of the end zone after the pick and was pushed out of bounds at the 4 by Jaylen Waddle, which set up the Dolphins for an important sequence.

-- On third-and-1 from the 13, the Chargers called for a pass by the Dolphins sent Kader Kohou on a blitz and he had a clear path to Herbert, bringing him down for a 12-yard sack to the 1-yard line. That was another example of Kohou's great tackling ability.

-- After only a 34-yard punt, the Dolphins set up shop at the Chargers 35 and they needed only one play to regain the lead when Tua hit Hill in stride after he easily got behind Jackson.

-- The defensive struggles continued on the next series, though, with the defense losing track of Ekeler after he leaked out of the backfield for a 35-yard gain toward the end of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- Four plays into the fourth quarter, the Charges completed their 75-yard drive to retake the lead, 31-27.

-- The Dolphins responded with a field goal drive thanks in large part to two completions to Braxton Berrios, the first coming after Tagovailoa did a nice job of escaping pressure and throwing on the. move.

-- On the second one, a 15-yard completion to the Chargers 30, Berrios did a great job of getting his hands under a throw next to the ground and the play was upheld after the Chargers challenged the ruling.

-- After Jason Sanders' 45-yard field goal made it 31-30, the defense gave a drive that took 6:10 but kept the Chargers out of the end zone.

-- The big play of the drive was a 24-yard pass from Herbert to Mike Williams on a pretty throw over Jerome Baker and in front of the defensive backs.

-- A key sequence took place afer the Chargers got a first down at the Miami 12 and they were kept out of the end zone.

-- Jaelan Phillps got late pressure on the third-and-5 incompletion to Williams with safety DeShon Elliott providing very good coverage in the end zone.

-- The Dolphins began their game-winning drive at their 25 and got a minor scare when officials ruled the Chargers had scored a touchdown on a fumble return, though the ruling was overturned after replay clearly showed Salvon Ahmed never had full possession of the ball.

-- Then came the big play, Tua's 47-yard completion to Hill after he stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure. It was a brilliant play all around, from Tua's movement, to the way he led Hill, to Hill's sliding catch.

-- A 15-yard completion over the middle to Cracraft moved the ball to the 9-yard line at the two-minute warning and at that point it was just a matter of when and how the Dolphins would score.

-- The winning touchdown came on a floater in the corner of the end zone when Tua and Hill took advantage of cornerback Michael Davis never turning around for the ball, which went right over him into the chest of Hill.

-- There was cause for concern, though, after Jason Sanders pushed the PAT attempt wide right, leaving the Dolphins up only 36-34.

-- The Chargers did get a first down on the first play of their final drive, but then the Dolphins moved them backward.

-- First, there was an intentional grounding penalty on Herbert in the face of pressure, though it did appear he had Kelley in the vicinity of his pass.

-- Zach Sieler then sacked Herbert on second down when the line collapsed the pocket and, after a 17-yard completion made it fourth-and-12, Jaelen Phillips and Justin Bethel shared the sack that sealed the victory.

-- All that was left to do was for Tua to take two knees to wrap up a most satisfying victory to start off the season.

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