Who’s hot, who’s not after the Miami Dolphins’ loss to the Chargers
The Dolphins dropped their second consecutive game Sunday night with a 23-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Here is a look at who’s hot — and who’s not — after the defeat.
Who’s hot
▪ Christian Wilkins: There might not be a player on the Dolphins’ defense, and only a short list of interior linemen, playing better than Wilkins right now. The fourth-year defensive tackle again left his impact in the game against the run and pass. One week after recording a career-high 12 tackles against the San Francisco 49ers, Wilkins followed it up with nine tackles — his third most in a game in his career — along with two tackles for loss and one sack. You don’t see many defensive linemen — and especially interior players — who are every-down players, but that’s essentially what Wilkins has become. Nonetheless, it hasn’t impacted his production.
▪ Tyreek Hill: In a second consecutive game when the offense struggled to take off, Hill continued to leave his impact. With his first catch in the first quarter, he passed Mark Clayton and set the franchise’s record for single-season receiving yards. Hill delivered the offense’s only plays over 20 yards, a 60-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter and a 57-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second. An ankle injury only slightly hampered the workload of Hill, who has become the Dolphins’ only playmaker in the past two weeks.
Who’s not
▪ Tua Tagovailoa: The entire Dolphins’ offense couldn’t break from the problems they had in San Francisco but Tagovailoa again was at the epicenter of it. The third-year quarterback misfired on his first four pass attempts and completed just 10 passes; his 35.7 completion rate is a season-low. With teams clogging Miami’s passing windows over the middle of the field, Tagovailoa hasn’t been able to get the ball out quickly and hasn’t been able to create enough once the play extends. Head coach Mike McDaniel echoed comments from after the 49ers game, saying all of the offense’s issues do not stem from Tagovailoa. But the confident and sharp player whose hot stretch propelled the Dolphins’ five-game winning streak has been nowhere to be found recently.
▪ Jaylen Waddle: Even at the lowest moments of the Dolphins’ disastrous offensive experiment last season, Miami could count on Tagovailoa’s connection with Waddle, which dates to their time as college teammates at Alabama. But as the Dolphins’ offense has nosedived in recent weeks, so has the production of Waddle. In the past two games, he has just three catches on nine targets for 40 yards. Waddle’s first reception against the Chargers came on the first play of the fourth quarter; to that point, he had just one target. McDaniel and his offensive coaching staff have a lot to fix before Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills, and that includes how to reincorporate their speedy second-year wideout, especially as defenses continue to focus on limiting Hill.
