Alonso’s pick-6 of Rivers lifts Dolphins to wild 31-24 win

The Miami Dolphins are 0-3 on the road as they begin a two-game West Coast swing in San Diego, where they lost a year ago, and they’re also 0-3 in the Pacific Time Zone since 2011.

Miami is the hottest team in the NFL.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Chargers DE Joey Bosa vs. Dolphins RT Ja’Wuan James. LB Kiko Alonso leads Dolphins with 67 tackles, including 30 tackles, 3 TFL and tow FRs in last three road games.

Rivers threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gates in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead. Establishing the run, however, will be a hard task.

At the same time, the Dolphin defense kept the Chargers’ Melvin Gordon under control. The Chargers will hold Jay Ajayi to under 100 yards rushing The Dolphins’ fortunes changed once they chose to ride Ajayi. And the Miami Dolphins are back in the playoff hunt. He had two sacks against the Jets last week, and 1.5 against the Buffalo Bills the previous game. While head coach Adam Gase didn’t back down against the fifth-ranked rush defense of the New York Jets and it’ll probably more of the same against the Chargers.

With Jordan Cameron on injured reserve because of the concussion he suffered in September don’t be surprised to see Sims become Miami’s every-down tight end. However, Ajayi is quickly closing on Gordon’s 768 yards with 646. Eventually, the Dolphins got Kyle Emanuel matched up on Damien Williams, and Williams caught the easiest 18 yard TD of his career.

Because this was his second procedure, the Dolphins are treating Howard’s situation with kid gloves, and rightly so, given his potential as a future starter. Philip Rivers had three of his first four passes dropped and finished quarter 1-of-5 for 6 yards. Sunday’s showing was far from ideal but they aren’t throwing back the win. Six of the San Diego Chargers last eight wins have come at home.

Rivers’ pick-six throw was an incredible blunder – a rookie-level mistake from a quarterback that has thrown 300 career touchdowns.

The message Gase wanted to deliver to his young back was loud and clear, and he heard it.

After a poor start to the season, Miami has won three straight to get to 4-4 on the season.

During the Dolphins three-game winning-streak, Ryan Tannehill has not turned the ball over once. Call the guys game managers. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald noted the wideout is considered day-to-day because he “didn’t feel right” after Wednesday’s practice. You just manage the game. They then forced a three-and-out on Miami’s initial possession.

The recent resurgence of the Dolphins hasn’t happened by accident. The winning moment when it came though, was from another Dolphins running back, Kenyan Drake, who had a 96 yard touchdown return, with just over 5 minutes left, to win the game. The Dolphins rank 30th in the National Football League against the run at 136.1 rushing yards per game allowed.

The Chargers are 4-5 this season, but are 3-1 when playing at home.

“There were obviously too many missed opportunities in the game”, Rivers said. Field goals won’t cut it, especially in this game on the road. Miami last won a road game almost a calendar year ago, defeating Philadelphia on November 15. 3.

FYI: 2008 was the past year the Dolphins made the playoffs.

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