Bolts handle “Wildcat,” Dolphins still gash

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Sunday, Oct 05, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

The Chargers were prepared Miami’s “Wildcat” offense. They held Miami scoreless in the second half. They didn’t make many mistakes defensively, but the Dolphins’ 36 plus minutes on offense was ultimately too much for the Bolts.

“It seemed like (Miami) had the ball most of the second quarter,” wide receiver Vincent Jackson said. “That’s tough on our defense. They’re out there, they’re getting winded down there. We’ve got to do a better job on third downs and staying out of third and long so our defense doesn’t have to stay out there so long.”

With the Chargers’ struggling offensively on third down to the tune of just three conversions in 12 attempts, the Bolts’ defense was on the field for 11:21 in the second quarter, the frame in which Miami scored both of their touchdowns.

Two weeks ago in their win at New England, the Dolphins unveiled their single-wing, “Wildcat” offense six times and scored four touchdowns. They went to the formation 12 times with direct snaps to running back Ronnie Brown resulting in 48 yards and a touchdown.

“We knew they were going to run that formation,” linebacker Stephen Cooper said. “We worked on it all week. We didn’t tackle as well as we should have. We need to be a little more physical as a football team in general, but we did okay with that stuff.”

The Chargers talked about slowing Miami’s efficient passing game, which they didn’t have as much success with. Chad Pennington finished 22-of-29 for 228 yards and a touchdown in the Dolphins’ victory.

“We talked about it all week, don’t be distracted by the six or seven plays they run out of this offense,” Head Coach Norv Turner said. “Pennington’s a veteran quarterback and has played awfully well. We handled a lot of things well defensively. They kept the ball longer than I would have liked but we weren’t able to keep the ball.”

Welcome back

Cooper did start Sunday in his return from a four-game suspension and finished the game with eight tackles.

“Physically I was fine,” Cooper said. “Mentally I was kind of slow out there, a little bit of my reads and stuff. I’m going to get stronger as the season goes on.”

Linebacker Derek Smith, who started the first four games of the season in Cooper’s absence, did rotate in throughout the afternoon, but Cooper played a majority of the snaps.

Special player

Rookie running back Jacob Hester hasn’t seen much time on offense early in his career as he’s playing behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles. That doesn’t mean he isn’t making an impact.

Coming into Sunday, Hester was tied for the team lead in special teams tackles. Late in the third quarter, Hester provided the play of the day when he poked the ball away from Dolphins kick returner Davone Bess and scooped the loose ball out of the air. His recovery gave the Chargers a chance to tie the game late, although they came up short.

Special weapon

Punter Mike Scifres was second in the NFL in punting average going into Sunday, and a big afternoon propelled him into the league lead in net average and just one tenth of a yard off the lead for gross average. Scifres punted six times for a gross average of 55.8 yards and a net of 50.5. None of his six kicks went for touchbacks, while three were downed inside Miami’s 20 yard line.

For the season, Scifres' net average is 45.1 yards per punt and his gross average is 52.6.

Nice return

Wide receiver Chris Chambers said earlier this week that he hoped he had something special for the Dolphins. Chambers spent the first seven years of his career in Miami and made his presence known against his former employer. He caught three passes for 30 yards and a touchdown.

Chambers narrowly missed a second touchdown when he was stood up at the one after a five-yard catch in the fourth quarter. The grab was costly. Chambers injured his left leg on the play and didn’t return. His status will be updated Monday.

Rivers fine

Quarterback Philip Rivers limped a little after getting hit pretty hard early in the game but didn’t walk away from Sunday’s game with any health concerns.

“It was just a couple shots, you get caught a little funny,” Rivers said. “Nothing really anything serious.”

Rivers was sacked twice Sunday but also took some shots as he stood in the pocket.

Toeing the line

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson practiced all week this week for the first time in nearly a month but admitted after the game that his right big toe bothered him a bit throughout the game.

“Each week is different,” Tomlinson said. “It’s a battle. You’ve got to keep battling through it. It’s tough. It bothered me. I got hit a few times. It’s something that I expected but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Doug Benc, Getty Images North America

Chris Chambers scored a touchdown in his old stomping grounds Sunday.

	Gameday: Norv Turner Post game press conference with Head Coach Norv Turner Play
	Gameday: Philip Rivers Post game press conference with QB Philip Rivers. Play
	Gameday: LaDainian Tomlinson Post game press conference with RB LaDainian Tomlinson. Play
	Gameday: Stephen Cooper Post game press conference with LB Stephen Cooper. Play