Chargers look to bounce back against Dolphins

Coming off a tough loss to the Ravens in their home opener, the Chargers look to regain momentum as they’ll play host to the Miami Dolphins this Sunday. Both teams will be licking some wounds as they head into their match up at Qualcomm Stadium. The Dolphins, the defending AFC East champions, have gotten off to a 0-2 start with losses to the Falcons and Colts and will desperately try to avoid losing their third straight game. For the Chargers the injuries go much further than pride. It was bad enough getting beat in their own house by the Ravens, but they also lost their starting center Nick Hardwick who had surgery on his ankle and could miss up to eight weeks.

Hardwick’s injury adds to the list of wounded Chargers including Ladanian Tomlinson, right guard Louis Vasquez, and defensive tackle Jamaal Williams who was placed on injured reserve. Tomlinson and Vasquez are still questionable for Sunday’s game, which does not bode well for an already struggling Charger rushing offense. San Diego’s ground game has been a missing element to their offense throughout the first two weeks of the season, rushing for only 77 yards against the Raiders and a mere 53 yards versus the Ravens. And to make matters worse the Dolphins have been strong against the run through their first two games even though they lost both.

The Chargers will have to compensate for a weak running game via the pass and it is where Sproles, Tomlinson’s replacement, seems to be most effective. Last week against the Ravens, Sproles grabbed a dump off pass from Phillip Rivers and took it 81 yards for a touchdown. On the day he caught seven passes for 124 yards and for the season he has 12 catches for 177 yards total. Look for Rivers to continue to get Sproles involved in the passing game as well as his other receivers, which he has had plenty of success doing in the early going this year. Rivers is off to another good start with 688 yards passing and three touchdowns.

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San Diego’s rush defense had its second consecutive tough outing, surrendering 130 yards on the ground to Baltimore after allowing the Raiders to compile 148 in week one. With Jamaal Williams now gone for the season, the Chargers have to figure out a way to slow down opposing running backs. Miami will likely provide a formidable test as their running game is coming off a breakout performance with 239 yards against the Colts. A good portion of those yards came from the wild cat formation, which the Dolphins introduced to the NFL last year and have executed effectively ever since. Just another wrinkle for the Chargers defense to be given the task of ironing out.

Recently, the Chargers haven’t had much luck in beating the Dolphins, losing seven in a row to the Fins over the span of 15 years. Last season they lost in Miami 17-10 in a game that saw the San Diego offense almost completely shut down. Rivers threw for only 159 yards while Tomlinson rushed for 35, and the Chargers struggled to move the ball all day. Many of the factors heading into Sunday’s games would appear to be set up for a repeat scenario. The Chargers will have to hope that their game plan and the friendly confines of Qualcomm Stadium will make up the difference and help them get back on the winning track.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com San Diego Chargers Correspondent