Dolphins-Chargers Week 14 Halftime Observations

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Breaking down the key moments from the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium

Here’s what caught our eye during the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday night.

— We’ll start with the inactive list, which was highlighted by Terron Armstead being active and available to play. The Dolphins clearly missed having Armstead on the offensive line against the 49ers in Week 13. Inactive after being on the injury report during the week were QB Teddy Bridgewater (knee) and WR River Cracraft (shoulder). Also inactive were RB Myles Gaskin, CB Noah Igbinoghene, WR Erik Ezukanma and TE Hunter Long.

— Newcomer Eric Fisher was active, days after signing with the Dolphins.

— Rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson once again served as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup at quarterback.

FIRST QUARTER

— The Dolphins got the ball first, but went three-and-out after three incompletions, making the curious decisions not to run once against a team giving up a league-worst average of 5.4 yards per rushing attempt.

— The first two passes were incompletions mostly as a result of good plays by Chargers defensive backs, while the third-and-10 pass seemed to go through Tyreek Hill’s hands based on the TV replays.

— Props to Elijah Campbell for a great play on Thomas Morstead’s 56-yard punt as he nailed the returner immediately after he fielded the punt.

— Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was nothing short of dominant on the Chargers’ first possession, both against the run and getting to Justin Herbert quickly on the pass rush.

— On the Chargers’ first third down, Kader Kohou kept the drive alive when he grabbed WR Josh Palmer’s jersey coming off the line of scrimmage.

— Xavien Howard had great coverage against Mike Williams on the next third down, but Williams made a great move to stop, jump in front of Howard near the right sideline and make an acrobatic catch for a 23-yard gain.

— The Dolphins held after the Chargers got a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, thanks to big plays by Andrew Van Ginkel and Kohou.

— First, AVG was all over Ekeler on a swing pass and tackled him in the open field for a 1-yard.

— When the Chargers decided to go for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 2, Kohou followed DeAndre Carter as he went in motion across the field, then took advantage of Carter stumbling after he caught another swing pass and pushed him, out of bounds at the 2-yard line.

— The Dolphins did get a first down on their next possession, thanks to a 13-yard pass from Tua to Hill over the middle, but it was a forgettable series nonetheless.

— Raheem Mostert gained only 1 yard on two rushing attempts, the line was called for a false start on “everybody but the center,” and then Tua threw incomplete on third-and-15 when he tried to drop a pass down the middle to Hill in a lot of traffic.

— Wilkins continued his brilliant work on the Chargers’ second drive, dropping Ekeler for no gain on a running play and then taking advantage of good coverage downfield to sack Herbert from behind on the last play of the first quarter.

— Despite the sack, the Chargers found themselves poised to take the lead moving into quarter number 2 facing a third-and-16 at the Dolphins 26 following completions of 19 yards to Mike Williams and 13 yards to Josh Palmer.

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— The Dolphins held L.A. to a field goal after an 11-yard completion to Ekeler and got the ball back trailing 3-0.

— It was another three-and-out for the offense, and maybe even uglier than the first.

— Jeff Wilson carried the ball on first down, but was dropped for a 3-yard loss by former Dolphins linebacker Kyle Van Noy when he beat a block attempt by Durham Smythe.

— Tua threw deep down the middle to Hill on second-and-13 and the pass appeared on target but Hill never made a move to try to reel it in, as it appeared he lost track of the ball.

— On third down, Van Noy easily beat Armstead with a spin move to sack Tua for a 6-yard loss.

— Making matters worse, the special teams had another breakdown, giving up a 23-yard return by Carter to set up the Chargers at the Miami 43.

— After two short passes, the Dolphins gave up a 22-yard run to Joshua Kelley on third-and-1 through a gaping hole on the right side of the defense.

— On second-and-8, Herbert lofted a pass over the defense to Williams in the back of the end zone for a touchdown and the Dolphins found themselves trailing 10-0.

— The Dolphins used a nice break and Hill’s ridiculous speed to get back into the game on their next series, with Hill picking up the ball on the ground after Jeff Wilson fumbled and raced around a group of players and into the end for a 59-yard touchdown that made it 10-7.

— The defense built on the fluke score by coming up with its first three-and-out of the game.

— With the Chargers facing a third-and-1, the Dolphins sent safety Eric Rowe on a blitz and he dropped Herbert from behind for a 5-yard loss.

— Another special teams mistake on the ensuing punt, though, with Keion Crossen called for holding when Cedrick Wilson Jr. called for a fair catch.

— The next possession began with a nifty run by Jeff Wilson for 20 yards through a gaping hole in the middle of the line, but he came up limping after the play.

— The Dolphins got another first down with the bread-and-butter play, the deep in over the middle, this one good for 12 yards to Cedrick Wilson Jr. on third-and-10.

— But a false start on Brandon Shell was followed by an incompletion when Khalil Mack came in free on Tua and the drive ended with a long incompletion down the left sideline to a well-covererd Trent Sherfield.

— Wilkins again made his presence felt on the Chargers’ next first down, his pressure causing Hebert to throw the ball away.

— The defense had a shot at a three-and-out, but Herbert hit Allen for a 10-yard completion on third-and-4 from the 16, and that was followed by completions of 21 yards to Ekeler and 14 yards to Keenan Allen, both plays coming after pressure forced Herbert out of the pocket.

— The Dolphins had chances to stop the Chargers drive, but gave up an 18-yard completion to Palmer on third-and-10 and after a sack by Jaelan Phillips led to the Chargers facing a third-and-goal from the 17, a screen pass to Ekeler gained 16 yards and Ekeler then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left in the half when the Chargers went for the touchdown again.

— The Dolphins went into halftime down 17-7 after being outgained 249-47 (Hill’s fumble return yards don’t count for the offense).

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