Lack of takeaways will burn Dolphins again; Rivers and Co. will light the skies
Miami Dolphins at San Diego Chargers
Sunday, September 27 at 4:15 p.m. ET
Online sports betting line: Chargers -6
The Chargers, who were supposed to run away with the AFC West, find themselves trailing the Broncos two weeks into the season. San Diego's defense let it down last week after allowing 31 points to the Ravens, and there's more bad news coming—nose tackle Jamal Williams was placed on injury reserve with a triceps injury, meaning he'll miss the rest of the season. Williams was a major key to San Diego's run defense. The team could also afford to strike up a bigger pass rush; the Chargers have just two sacks thus far and former stalwart Shawne Merriman has yet to reach the quarterback. It's questionable whether he can ever return to his 2005-07 form.
Quarterback Philip Rivers had a career day with 436 passing yards against Baltimore, but he also hurt San Diego's cause with a pair of interceptions. Rivers will be leaned on heavily this season, as the Chargers running game shows no signs of life. The Bolts have just 130 rushing yards at just 3.0 yards per carry. With LaDainian Tomlinson now hurt (and looking like a shell of his former self anyway) and center Nick Hardwick out until December, room for improvement looks bleak.
The Dolphins are reeling after an 0-2 start and they desperately need a win on NFL Week 3 odds. A brilliant effort by Ronnie Brown (136 yards, two scores) was wasted in last week's loss to the Colts, but at least it proved the Wild Cat offense still has some gas left in the thank. Either way, Chad Pennington needs to make a few more plays and Ted Ginn needs to hold onto the football. Statistically, Ginn had a good game last week but a case of the drops really hurt his squad.
After failing to record a takeaway in the first two games, Miami's defense leaves much to be desired. Part of the problem is lack of pressure on the passer. The Dolphins need to put some heat on opposing quarterbacks to force mistakes. It doesn't take sports betting software to realize that by losing the turnover battle every week, their chances of repeating last season's double-digit win total are slim to none.
While the situation in San Diego sounds disasterous, this is still one of the deepest, most talented teams in the NFL. The passing game will obviously become more a focal point and someone must step up in Williams' abscene, but there's still more than enough pieces there to win the AFC West—and more than enough pieces to cover against the Dolphins in your NFL bet. Miami has been burned by good quarterbacks in two straight weeks (Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning), and they've made it look easy because of no turnovers. Make it 3-3 with Rivers joining the mix.
