Chargers improve playoff stock with takedown of Dolphins

Justin Herbert threw for 367 yards and a touchdown Sunday night as the Los Angeles Chargers leaped over the New York Jets for the AFC's last playoff spot with a 23-17 win over the Miami Dolphins in Inglewood, Calif. Herbert completed 39 of 51 passes for Los Angeles (7-6), which controlled the ball for more than 39 minutes and nearly doubled Miami in total yardage. Mike Williams caught six passes for 116 yards and a TD for the Chargers. Herbert led long drives all game, including one of more than 8 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter that set up Cameron Dicker's 28-yard field goal with 2:40 left that made it 23-14. Jason Sanders bombed a 55-yarder to pull Miami within six points at the 1:10 mark, but Nick Niemann recovered an onside kick near midfield to seal the outcome. The Dolphins managed only 219 yards, 60 coming on Tua Tagovailoa's third-quarter touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill that pulled Miami within 17-14. But Tagovailoa struggled mightily against a short-handed defense, completing only 10 of 28 passes for 145 yards. Miami (8-5) fell two games behind Buffalo in the AFC East. Los Angeles controlled most of the first half, running 43 plays to the Dolphins' 24. Yet the Chargers didn't score until the second quarter, largely because a fourth-and-goal play from the 2 on their first drive didn't produce points. But they took a 3-0 lead when Dicker converted a 33-yard field goal 46 seconds into the second quarter, then made it 10-0 when Herbert found Williams for a 10-yard touchdown pass at the 9:49 mark. Miami got on the board with a weird touchdown just over a minute later. Hill recovered a Jeff Wilson fumble and zipped 57 yards to pull the Dolphins within three points. But Los Angeles had the final say with a 13-play, 90-yard drive that Austin Ekeler finished with a fourth-and-goal scoring run from the 1 with 18 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Chargers a 17-7 lead at the break. --Field Level Media