NFL Week 1 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 36, Los Angeles Chargers 34 | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics
The Miami Dolphins came away from the West Coast with a thrilling 36-34 victory after a shootout with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Offensive spotlight: The combination of Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill was virtually unstoppable in this game. Hill was targeted 15 times, catching 11 of those targets for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He visibly operates at a different speed to anybody else on the football field, and the Chargers couldn’t contain him all game. Tagovailoa ended up throwing for 466 yards, with an average depth of target 13.6 yards. He averaged 10.4 yards per attempt for the game.
Defensive spotlight: What defense? This game certainly didn’t do anything to suggest that the Chargers might finally put things together defensively under head coach Brandon Staley — a defensive-minded hire. The Chargers allowed 531 yards of offense at 8.2 yards per play. What’s perhaps most concerning is that they gave up all of that production despite actually recording multiple turnovers, as J.C. Jackson snagged an interception and Nick Williams had a fumble recovery.
Rookie spotlight: Quentin Johnston did not have a huge role in the offense for the Chargers, even though the team had a lot of success moving the football. Johnston played just 22 snaps on offense — 16 of them as a route-runner — and he caught two of the three targets sent his way for 9 yards and just one first down. Johnston was clearly the fourth wide receiver on the depth chart behind Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Josh Palmer, though he did see more passes come his way than Palmer did.
