The Dolphins couldn't continue their mastery against the Chargers in Miami.
Philip Rivers passed for 310 yards and two touchdowns and the Chargers ended an eight-game losing streak against the Dolphins in Miami with a 30-10 victory at Hard Rock Stadium. It was their first victory in Miami since the 1981 playoff classic at the Orange Bowl.
Running back Austin Ekeler, who again started for the Chargers with Melvin Gordon having reported to the team three days ago, had two touchdowns, on an 18-yard reception and on a 1-yard run. Running back Troymaine Pope had the other touchdown and Ty Long kicked three field goals.
The Dolphins' scoring came on a 34-yard pass from Josh Rosen to DeVante Parker on the team's first drive and a 30-yard field goal by Jason Sanders.
For the second consecutive week, the Dolphins put together a solid first-half performance, but they couldn't follow through on it to get their first victory of the season.
The Dolphins trailed 17-10 at halftime despite missing two field goal attempts.
Rosen was very effective in the first half, completing 12 of 16 passes for 159 yards with the touchdown pass to Parker and a 126.8 passer rating. Additionally, two of the four incompletions were drops.
The Dolphins offense couldn't move the ball consistently in the second half, gaining only 34 yards after halftime.
The defense failed to produce many big plays, though Taco Charlton recorded his second sack in two games with the Dolphins in the third quarter.
With Jesse Davis missing the game because of an elbow injury he sustained at Dallas last Sunday, veteran J’Marcus Webb moved from left to right tackle and rookie sixth-round pick Isaiah Prince made his first NFL start at right tackle. In fact, it was Prince's first NFL action after he was inactive the first three games.
After the Chargers kicked a field goal on the opening possession of the game, the Dolphins earned their first lead of the season with an impressive 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Rosen’s pass to Parker.
The other big play in the drive was a 25-yard completion to Preston Williams after Rosen's pass bounced off the hands of tight end Mike Gesicki.
Los Angeles answered with its own 75-yard drive, capped by Rivers' 13-yard touchdown pass to running back Troymaine Pope.
The Dolphins tied the score 10-10 with a 12-play, 67-yard drive that featured a 19-yard screen pass to Kenyan Drake, though Miami failed to reach the end zone after having a first-and-goal.
The defense forced an incompletion on a fourth-and-6 from the Miami 37-yard line and got the ball in Chargers territory after a roughness penalty, but the drive stalled and Sanders missed a 50-yard field goal attempt wide right. The Dolphins got in position to attempt the field goal after wide receiver Isaiah Ford converted a third-and-3 with his first NFL reception.
Starting at its own 40, the Chargers needed eight plays to reach the end zone and regain the lead, Ekeler taking a short pass from Rivers and racing 18 yards down the left sideline.
Rosen put together an impressive two-minute drive to put the Dolphins in position to cut into the Chargers lead, completing three passes to Parker for 36 yards, but Sanders again was wide right, this time from 52 yards out.
The Chargers had the only points of the second half, on Ekeler's short TD run and field goals of 45 and 51 yards by Long.
The Dolphins will have their bye next weekend before returning to Hard Rock Stadium to face the Washington Redskins on Oct. 6.
