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Dolphins dominate in whitewash of Chargers

Nov 2, 2014 - 10:18 PM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Maybe the Chargers thought their bye was this week.

San Diego will actually be off next week and will have plenty of time to think about a humbling 37-0 loss at Miami on Sunday.

Ryan Tannehill threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters of work for the Dolphins (5-3), who completely dominated en route to their third straight win.

It was Miami's most efficient outing of the season and clearly San Diego's worst. The Chargers (5-4) have lost three in a row and were blanked for the first time since a 34-0 loss at Kansas City on Oct. 31, 1999.

The Dolphins racked up 441 yards of offense and the defense came up with three interceptions of Philip Rivers, as Miami pitched its first shutout since a 21-0 win over New England on Dec. 10, 2006.

"I was confident going into the game that we were going to play well," said Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, who left the team for two days during the week to be with his father who died on Friday. "It was a total team effort in all phases of the game."

Tannehill completed 24-of-34 passes without an interception and was Miami's second-leading rusher with 47 yards on four carries. He left in favor of Matt Moore to start the fourth quarter.

"It was a great team win," said Tannehill. "Now we need to build on it."

Rivers exited the contest late in the third quarter after completing just 12- of-23 passes for 138 yards. He was also sacked three times and lost a fumble, as San Diego managed only 178 total yards and a mere 10 first downs.

"We didn't have a good day as a football team today," said Chargers coach Mike McCoy. "Poor in all phases. We have to figure this thing out, as coaches and players, and turn this around."

The Chargers actually looked good on their first series, holding the ball for half of the first quarter after the opening kickoff. A pair of long third-down conversions had San Diego deep in Miami territory, but a holding penalty negated a big run. The Chargers then nearly picked up a 3rd-and-17 when Keenan Allen came up a yard short at the Miami 22. Electing to try for the first down, Branden Oliver was stopped behind the line of scrimmage on fourth down.

It was all Miami from there.

The Dolphins went 77 yards with their first possession and took a 7-0 lead when Tannehill found Charles Clay in the back left corner of the end zone from six yards away on the only third down of the 10-play set. Tannehill completed each of his six passes during the march, including a 24-yard connection with Clay early in the series.

After a San Diego punt, Miami drove 61 yards for another touchdown. Tannehill keyed it with a 22-yard run to the 10-yard line and Lamar Miller scored from the two three plays later for 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Rivers was then picked off by Reshad Jones on the first play after the kickoff and the Dolphins converted with a 26-yard field goal from Caleb Sturgis, who added a 25-yard boot on the next Miami series for a 20-0 advantage. He missed from 45 yards away as time expired in the first half.

The Dolphins outgained the Chargers 282-118 in the first 30 minutes, and it was more of the same in the second half.

Miami took the opening kickoff and drove 72 yards for a touchdown. A San Diego penalty for illegal use of hands gave the Dolphins a first down after they would have been forced to punt following a third-down sack. Tannehill took full advantage, capping the series with a 21-yard scoring strike to Rishard Matthews to make it 27-0.

Brent Grimes intercepted Rivers on the next Chargers possession, leading to another short Sturgis field goal. Miami failed to convert another Grimes pick on the next San Diego series and punted for the first time, but Rivers was sacked and fumbled just three plays later.

Jared Odrick recovered for the Dolphins at the San Diego 14 and Tannehill immediately took advantage with a touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry on the very next play for a 37-0 cushion.

Rivers took a shot to the elbow on the sack and left the contest on the next series in favor of Kellen Clemens.

Game Notes

The Dolphins have won eight straight against the Chargers in Miami. San Diego's last win in South Florida was on Jan. 2, 1982, the epic 41-38 overtime victory in the divisional playoffs ... Miami posted its largest shutout margin since a 42-0 victory over Kansas City on Oct. 11, 1987 ... The Dolphins scored a touchdown on their opening possession for just the second time this season ... Dolphins guard Daryn Colledge was inactive because of a back injury and had a streak of 135 consecutive games stopped ... Chargers center Rich Ohrnberger left the contest with injured ribs and nose tackle Sean Lissemore suffered a quadriceps injury.