Chargers @ Dolphins
The Chargers had a very Chargers-like game on Sunday. After their first drive stalled, their punt was blocked and Miami scored shortly after. Then on Miami’s next drive, they get stopped and line up for a field goal; the Chargers jump offsides and Miami then scores a touchdown with that second chance. The Chargers offense looked out of sorts and struggled against this strong Miami defense. Both teams had less than 300 yards of total offense. Miami largely played a clean game besides a poor snap fumble recovered by the Chargers, and they won 29-21.
Los Angeles Chargers
Quarterback
Justin Herbert: 20/32, 187 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 2 Sacks | 4 carries, 10 yards, 1 TD
Justin Herbert wasn’t really called on a lot in this game. He had less than 100 passing yards deep into the third quarter and less than 20 passing attempts at that point. Of course, being behind in the 4th quarter his passing attempts vaulted up. His touchdown run was on a fourth and goal that he got in on a QB sneak. He missed Mike Williams on a wide-open touchdown down 15 and then hit Keenan Allen on the next play to salvage Allen’s fantasy day. We are used to seeing big plays from Herbert and this Chargers offense but it was a lot of check-downs and shorter passes on Sunday. The 2-7 Chargers will face the winless Jets next week and Herbert will be a solid QB1 for that matchup.
Running Backs
Joshua Kelley: 7 carries, 21 yards
Kalen Ballage: 18 carries, 68 yards | 6 targets, 5 receptions, 34 yards
It appears that the Chargers have soured on Joshua Kelley some. He was the clear number two running back on Sunday behind recently signed Kalen Ballage. It was surprising how much the announce team was raving over Ballage and they claimed coach Anthony Lynn was as well, wondering how he was available. Ballage plodded his way to 1.8 yards per carry last year on 74 carries with a long run of 8 yards. Ballage looked decent in his work on Sunday. He didn’t do anything flashy but ran hard and was very active in the passing game. He will be a low-upside RB2 as long as he is getting this workload. Ballage and Kelley were both stuffed on the goalline and Herbert ran his touchdown in after they failed.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Keenan Allen: 7 targets, 3 receptions, 39 yards, 1 TD
Hunter Henry: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 30 yards, 1 TD
Mike Williams: 5 targets, 2 reception, 38 yards
Jalen Guyton: 6 targets, 4 reception, 24 yards
It was nice to see Hunter Henry get a score today as he continues to not have big yardage games with Herbert under center. He is more of a touchdown-or-bust TE1 right now. Keenan Allen was not involved much at all in this one and his day was saved with a late touchdown down by 15. Check it out in GIF form below. He is still the most targeted option in this passing game and is locked in WR1 at the moment. Mike Williams wasn’t targeted in the first half but was getting looks in the second-half. Herbert missed him on an easy red zone touchdown where he was wide open and couldn’t connect with Williams on a deep ball. Williams is a highly volatile flex option.
Commander Keenan#FantasyFootball | #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/pUl4Km9T0g
— QB List (@TheQBlist) November 16, 2020
Miami Dolphins
Quarterback
Tua Tagovailoa: 15/25, 169 yards, 2 TDs | 6 carries, -1 yards
Tua Tagovailoa looked pretty good in this one. He made quick decisions and did not turn the ball over or get sacked at all. He threw a lot of jump balls to stud receiver DeVante Parker but they failed to connect on most of them. He had one poor decision where he threw it right between the hands of the Chargers linebacker who just whiffed on it and it wound up being a completion. His first score was a short strike to Jakeem Grant right after a touchdown to Parker was overturned. His second touchdown throw was a beautiful play call where the whole offense rolled to the left and the backup tight end snuck out to the right and was wide open. I was disappointed to not see Tua run much at all. Three of his carries were kneel-downs. Tua and the Dolphins will travel to Denver next week in what should be a decent matchup. He is a QB2 at the moment.
Running Backs
Salvon Ahmed: 21 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD | 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
Patrick Laird: 2 carries, 19 yards
Miami had a lot of running backs out on Sunday. Undrafted rookie Salvon Ahmed looked great against the Chargers. He showed great burst on multiple carries where he got to the second level of the defense. He wasn’t really involved in the passing game but he was the true bell-cow back for the Dolphins. He is a decent RB2 as long as so many running backs remain out for the Dolphins.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
DeVante Parker: 7 targets, 2 receptions, 31 yards
Jakeem Grant: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 43 yards, 1 TD
Mike Gesicki: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 40 yards
In the first game without wide receiver Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant stepped up and had a nice game for himself. He had a couple of chain-moving receptions and caught a short-strike from Tua early in the game. He is a WR3/Flex play with an every-down role right now. DeVante Parker had a beautiful touchdown catch correctly over-turned and failed to come down with multiple jump balls from Tua. He will be the alpha receiver most weeks in this offense and is a solid WR 2 going forward. Mike Gesicki had a couple of nice chunk receptions but didn’t do much overall for fantasy purposes. He is a middling TE1.
-Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918 on Twitter)