San Diego Chargers vs. Miami Dolphins: Full Report Card Grades for Miami
Miami Dolphins fans haven't seen this type of performance in years.
From start until finish, the Dolphins dominated, defeating the San Diego Chargers on a beautiful Miami Sunday afternoon.
The Dolphins dominated in every facet of the game, gaining 441 total yards on offense while holding the Chargers to 178 yards.
The defense created big plays by forcing the Chargers quarterback, Philip Rivers, to commit four turnovers—three interceptions and a fumble. Rivers would leave the game early, getting sacked three times while completing only 12 of 23 passes for 138 yards.
San Diego couldn't get anything right, while the Dolphins got everything right and are now 5-3 facing their toughest stretch of the season, one that includes trips to Detroit and Denver sandwiched around hosting a Thursday Night game against Buffalo.
This game was a must-win, and that's exactly what the Dolphins did.
Here's a look at the grades in a report card that's worthy of a trip to Chuck E. Cheese and a place on the refrigerator.
Quarterback
1 of 10I'm sure when I watch film of the game on Tuesday, I'll find something to nitpick about Ryan Tannehill's performance.
I shouldn't though, because this was as close to perfect as he could get, completing 70 percent of his passes (24 of 34) for 288 yards and three touchdowns.
He also ran for 47 yards on four rushing attempts. The one nitpick is that he fumbled the ball, but Miami didn't lose it.
Even Tannehill's incomplete passes were a mixture of dropped passes and a questionable call. The latter was a dubious third-quarter call on a Charles Clay incompletion that should have been ruled a catch and fumble (which would've given the Dolphins the ball at the San Diego 1-yard line since it rolled out of bounds). There's nothing to complain about here.
Of course, Tannehill and Dan Marino will focus more on the 10 incompletions when they watch film together this week. But they can do the nitpicking, Dolphins fans should just enjoy his performance—the best of his career.
Grade: A+
Running Back
2 of 10
As a unit, Miami ran for only 132 yards.
To say "only" is a stretch—this unit did well. They kept the Chargers defense honest, allowing Tannehill to carve the secondary up with reckless abandon.
They did get some bad news, as Lamar Miller left early with an apparent injury. However, according to Omar Kelly of The Sun-Sentinel, that might be much ado about nothing.
"Lamar Miller said he's fine. Miller said he didn't return to the game as precautionary.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) November 2, 2014"
Damian Williams played at the end, running the ball for 28 yards on 11 carries. Daniel Thomas wasn't great, but he was serviceable.
Grade: A
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Just take a look at this balance, which speaks a lot to Ryan Tannehill's day and also tells you how well his teammates performed.
| Player | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns |
| Charles Clay | 5 | 65 | 1 |
| Brian Hartline | 5 | 50 | 0 |
| Mike Wallace | 5 | 50 | 0 |
| Jarvis Landry | 3 | 46 | 1 |
| Rishard Matthews | 1 | 21 | 1 |
| Brandon Gibson | 1 | 18 | 0 |
Not pictured: Tannehill's passes to his running backs (who combined for four catches for 37 yards).
Everyone stepped up despite some key drops, and it's the drops where I drop the grade.
That grade drop only goes from A+ to A, though.
Grade: A
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Despite being down a starter, with Dallas Thomas filling in for Daryn Colledge, Miami's offensive line was dominant in this game.
No sacks were allowed, and on run plays they tended to win at the line of scrimmage against San Diego's defensive front.
Miami's offensive line was working like a well-oiled machine, and it wasn't just a finesse approach that got it done—they were physically tough as well.
For this unit, it's their best performance of the season, which could be said about every other facet of the team on Sunday.
Grade: A+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Philip Rivers usually doesn't get sacked.
He rarely gets sacked more than once.
He got sacked four times against the Dolphins though, and he fumbled the ball after one such sack.
The pressure Miami put on Rivers also gave him a hard time passing the ball, as it helped to force three interceptions on the afternoon.
Then there's San Diego's run game, which was non-existent, as the Chargers ran for 50 yards.
This was a dominant performance by a unit that has been big for the Dolphins in their last four games, with this one being the best of them all.
Grade: A+
Linebackers
6 of 10
Usually, running backs catching passes out of the backfield feast on Miami's linebackers, as do tight ends.
On Sunday, the longest such play from a Chargers running back was a 16-yard run. Antonio Gates only caught three passes for 28 yards.
This Dolphins linebacker unit was suspect, but they're earning their stripes in each game and have vaulted past adequate and up to good.
Jelani Jenkins was all over the field, as was Koa Misi. Philip Wheeler played well, too.
Their tackles may be low for a linebacker unit, but their coverage was good enough that they didn't have to make those tackles, as passes either hit the ground or hit Miami's secondary.
Grade: A+
Secondary
7 of 10San Diego's pass offense is one to fear.
Miami's secondary didn't have such fear and might have even taken the aura out of Rivers' 2014 season.
The coverage on the receivers was tight, as Malcom Floyd had the longest reception of the game.
It went for 16 yards.
Reshad Jones was Miami's leading tackler with five, but with the way that passes were falling either to the ground or into Miami arms, not too many tackles were needed.
Jones also had an interception to his credit and Brent Grimes had two.
The most impressive of which came in the third quarter when Grimes jumped up to steal the ball from Keenan Allen.
That's right: stole. Allen was going to catch the ball, but Grimes grabbed it while both players were in the air. When they landed, Grimes had sole possession.
It was an impressive performance by Miami's secondary, which currently looks like one of the best units in the NFL.
Grade: A+
Special Teams
8 of 10
I'm debating over whether the special teams unit should get an A.
Caleb Sturgis missed a field goal late in the second quarter that would've put Miami up 23-0 going into halftime. Looking back, it was the difference between breaking 40 and not.
The field goal wasn't a gimme, but it was makeable.
Other than that, everything else was solid. Brandon Fields wasn't needed until the second half, but he performed well when he was, averaging 47 yards per punt, with both of them landing behind the 20.
The kickoff coverage (which was employed a lot due to the 37-0 score) also did well, not allowing a big return all game.
Jarvis Landry averaged 15 yards per return on his four punt returns.
Not quite an A performance, that missed field goal—despite the score—still stings.
Grade: B+
Coaching
9 of 10
I could not (and do not) want to imagine the pain that Joe Philbin must be going through right now.
On Friday night, Philbin lost his father at the age of 93 (per Kevin Patra of NFL.com). No matter what the age, losing a parent is rough, and my condolences go out to Coach Philbin and his family during this difficult time.
Facing that, Philbin came out and coached on Sunday, and he was masterful. A lot of credit should go to his coordinators, who came up with the perfect game plan for beating San Diego, and to the players who executed it well.
Offensively, Bill Lazor seemed to push just the right buttons to attack San Diego's inadequacies on defense. Do the Chargers have a bad secondary? Yes, but flaws are meant to be exploited, and that they were.
On defense, the goal should've been to get to Rivers and force mistakes. That was the plan, and it worked in execution.
Miami also played a very clean game, getting called for only three penalties and not turning the ball over once.
Excellent job, coaches.
Grade: A+
Final Grades
10 of 10| Position | Grade |
| Quarterback | A+ |
| Running Backs | A |
| Wide Receivers/Tight Ends | A |
| Offensive Line | A+ |
| Defensive line | A+ |
| Linebackers | A+ |
| Secondary | A+ |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | A+ |
| Final Grade | A+ |
No, the math doesn't add up (the average would be only 97.6, which is an A), but extra credit is deserved when you have an offense that comes within a missed field goal of hitting 40 and a defense that allowed less than 200 yards and no points.
Miami played its best game of the season—and of the last decade—on Sunday and firmly established itself in the AFC's playoff race. The Dolphins didn't look like the average 8-8 we're used to, but rather like a contender.
The challenge now: keeping it up. Their next three games will tell us if this team is playoff-worthy.
Statistics provided by NFL.com.
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