Football fans were treated to a stellar matchup between two future stars at the quarterback position last week when Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray put on a show that featured 754 yards of offense and 65 combined points between the Dolphins and Cardinals. This week will deliver a matchup of similar magnitude when Tagovailoa tries to go 3-0 on as a starter against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday in Miami at 2:05 p.m.
Miami (5-3) has won four in a row and have averaged 32.3 points per game during that span while allowing only 16.4 points from their opponents. They sit at the seventh spot in the playoff rankings that now have the possibility of including eight teams by the time Week 18 comes around.
The Chargers (2-6) are on the opposite end of luck losing six of their previous seven after starting the year 2-0. All of their losses have been decided by a touchdown or less with the last play of the game being the deciding factor on multiple occasions.
DraftKings Sportsbook has the Dolphins as the -1.5 favorites and a moneyline of -121.
The Future QBs of the AFC
Justin Herbert has been the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, and rightfully so by putting up 2,146 yards passing, 17 TDs and five interceptions in only seven starts. Despite the impressive outings by Herbert, the Chargers are failing to win football games. Some would say it is luck not being in the favor of Anthony Lynn or the possible bad game management by the head coach who is not helping his young quarterback to win late in games.
The Rose Bowl MVP has lost almost half the amount of games in one season in the NFL as he did while playing three years in Oregon. But he is not letting that hinder his performance throwing the football. Herbert’s QB rating after seven starts is ninth in the entire league at 104.7.
Tua Tagovailoa would probably be riding right along with Herbert if he started seven weeks ago. But, the former member of the Crimson Tide has impressed in his first two starts, especially in last week’s comeback win over Kyler Murray and the Cardinals.
Tagovailoa completed 71 percent of his passes for 248 yards and two scores against Arizona and made a plethora of spot on throws to his targets in the red zone. The Fins sat Ryan Fitzpatrick, which many people hated on, but they may be taking back their resentment after watching Tua perform.
Last Minute Woes
Anthony Lynn and the Chargers are experiencing 2020 to the fullest degree after becoming the first team to blow +16 point leads in four-consecutive games…which is a first time occurrence in the NFL.
After accomplishing that feat, they decided to try their own attempt of a comeback against the Raiders, but the last-second Donald Parham touchdown got taken off the scoreboard after review showed the tight-end didn’t have control of the catch all the way to the ground.
LA hopes this will be the end of their plundered luck and get a win for the first time in three weeks.
A Change of Wind Direction
At this point last year, Miami was 1-7 after losing their Week 9 matchup to the New York Jets…jeesh. Fast forward one year later, they are in the middle of a playoff race and are second in the AFC East.
365 days of successful rebuild has the Dolphins in prime position to make the postseason for the first time since 2008. There really is nothing but good vibes for Miami after experiencing only one winning season since that latest playoff run.
The offense is the only thing that needs to pick up the pace because the defense has been shutting out teams left and right. Miami’s defense allows only 17.9 ppg and has proven to be able to score if the need comes about.
Picks
The Dolphins are riding on a heat wave while the Chargers are in the middle of a winter snowstorm. Tua has the chance to have another breakout game against a Chargers’ pass defense that ranks 16th, but has also not held a team under 30 points in all of their last four losses.
Expect Tagovailoa to come out and just enjoy himself, as he has shown to do on a regular basis, but also put up a stellar game while doing so. I will take the DraftKings Sportsbook odds of him throwing over 244.5 yards at -112.
Because of that I will also take the small favorited Dolphins over LA.