Miami (8-4) at LA Chargers (6-6)
When: Sunday, December 11th 2022
Where: SoFi Stadium,
Inglewood, CA
Time: 8:20 ET | TV: NBC
Opening Odds: Pickem/52
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Two playoff contenders take to the field Sunday night in a game flexed-in by the NFL, as the Miami Dolphins visit the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Miami is in great position to make the postseason, but the Chargers really need to string together some wins, with the division title pretty much wrapped-up already by the Kansas City Chiefs. The storyline in this one is the two starting quarterbacks. In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Dolphins tried to trade up to No. 1 and grab Joe Burrow, but instead settled with Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5, leaving Justin Herbert at No. 6 for Los Angeles. The decision looked regrettable during the first two seasons, but Tagovailoa is having a breakout 2022 campaign. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he has a terrific pair of receivers in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The teams last met in Week 10 of the 2020 season and the Dolphins won 29-21 at home. Tua passed for 169 yards and two scores, while Herbert had 187 and two touchdowns and an interception.
Miami got off to a great start in San Francisco last Sunday with a Tagovailoa 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game but that was about it. Tagovailoa was picked off twice and suffered a minor ankle injury, but should be fine for Sunday. Tyreek Hill had another 100-yard receiving game with 146 on nine catches with a touchdown. Waddle had just one catch for nine yards after injuring his leg in the second quarter. He would return but was clearly not 100%. Right tackle Austin Jackson was out with an ankle injury and has been placed on injured reserve. Miami should be better offensively this week against a Chargers defense that is 27th in the league with 371.7 yards allowed per game. Tagovailoa leads the league in passer rating (112.0) and guides the fourth-ranked offense in the NFL (380.2 yards per game) and No. 2 passing offense (290.5 yards per game).
The Chargers were outscored 17-7 in the second half last week at Las Vegas and didn’t score an offensive TD until midway through the fourth quarter. Herbert completed 28-of-47 passes for 335 yards but was sacked five times. Allen returned after missing seven games with a hamstring injury and had six catches for 88 yards and a score. LA also had to play the game with a backup left tackle, right tackle and center. The Chargers are 6-2 against teams with a losing record and 0-4 against teams with a winning record. Williams finally practiced this week after missing the Raiders game with an ankle injury. The Chargers defense allowed 154 rushing yards last week, the sixth consecutive game opponents have topped 150.
With Allen and Williams in the lineup, the Chargers are more than capable of keeping up with the Miami offense. The Dolphins defense allows a ton of yards through the air, so I expect Herbert to have a big game. I’ll take the home dog.
Pick: Chargers +3
