1. Emotional, dominant victory
The Dolphins played this game knowing their head coach, Joe Philbin, had lost his father only two days prior. They knew how important this game was not only for their season, but for their grieving leader as well.
And they played like it.
The Dolphins played with energy and intensity the whole game, and the home crowd reciprocated the feeling. It was a great atmosphere inside Sun Life Stadium.
The Dolphins owned every stat in this game. Miami started fast and played every snap like they knew they were the better team. The Dolphins looked like a team that knew they were going to end the day victorious.
It was an extremely uplifting victory and an extremely important victory. Now, in the second half of the season, the Dolphins must continue to play to their potential.
2. Secondary was strong
Phillip Rivers was off, but the Dolphins were playing tight coverage all game. Rivers seemed confused for much of the game as Miami gave him many different coverage looks. One of the most effective looks was
Reshad Jones as a nickel area defender with
Michael Thomas and
Louis Delmas at safety. This formation was used on the play that
Brent Grimes' pulled down his first interception of the game.
The Dolphins, now owning the league's second ranked secondary, nabbed three interceptions and allowed only 128 passing yards to the once-MVP candidate. A lot of that was due to....
3. Great defensive line play
The Dolphins shut down the run completely, forcing the Chargers to be one-dimensional. The Chargers ran for only 50 yards, most of that coming in the fourth quarter when the game was already won. Rookie running back
Branden Oliver, who has been the Chargers' main running back, ran for only 19 yards on 13 attempts. And one of those attempts went for 11 yards.
Choking out the run, and building a respectable lead allowed the Dolphins to focus primarily on the pass.
The Dolphins pass rush featured many exotic looks and different personnel groupings, but more importantly featured lots of effective pressure on Rivers. Rivers was sacked four times and fumbled once. The interior pressure caused by
Jared Odrick forced Rivers first interception (to Reshad Jones), edge pressure by
Olivier Vernon caused Rivers' second interception (to
Brent Grimes) and pressure by
Derrick Shelby forced a bad decision on Rivers third interception (to Grimes once again).
The Dolphins defense completely shut out San Diego and forced four turnovers. Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle called a great game.
4. Extremely efficient offense
The Dolphins matriculated down the field for touchdowns on their first two possessions. The Dolphins first seven possessions of the game went for either a touchdown or field goal attempt (not to mention that Miami had 11 drives the entire game). Miami punted for first time with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.
The offensive line's pass protection was solid all game which allowed Tannehill to look like a star. But, Tannehill had his fair share of star-like plays. More than once, Tannehill escaped the pocket to extend a play and find an open receiver, such as the touchdown pass to Rishard Matthews. Tannehill also threaded the needle between defenders beautifully on a 3rd-and-12 pass to
Mike Wallace.
At times in the past, Tannehill has look confused, timid and straight oblivious with the ball in his hands. Lately, though, Tannehill looks confident in everything he does. He uses his athleticism to leave the pocket when his protection breaks down (which is where the term "oblivious" used to be most fitting). Tannehill seems to understand and trust
himself and the people around him more, leading to a more synchronized, efficient and fun to watch offense.
