Dolphins open as early Sunday Night Football favorites in Week 14 at Los Angeles Chargers

Dec 5, 2022 - 4:04 PM

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The Miami Dolphins are looking to shake off a rough Week 13 performance, losing this past Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers 33-17. As they move from the memory of that game to their Week 14 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers, the team is staying in California for the week, essentially giving them an in-season minicamp. Will the choice to remain out west help the team as they appear on Sunday Night Football for the second time this season?

Miami fell to 8-4 on the year with the loss to the 49ers, snapping a five-game winning streak and pushing them out of the AFC East division lead. The Chargers, who lost to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 13, are 6-6 for the season and, while they are second in the AFC West, they are on the outside looking in on the AFC playoff picture. Miami is currently in the playoff bubble as the sixth seed while Los Angeles is in the ninth position in the conference, putting them two spots outside of the postseason.

The oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook see Miami bouncing back in Week 14 with a victory over the Chargers, though it is projected to be a close game. The line for the game opened with the Dolphins favored by 1.5 points. As of Monday morning, the line had moved to Miami favored by 2.5. The 52-point over/under mark is set as the second-highest point total of the week, trailing the Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions game by a point. On the moneyline, Miami is -140 to win the game, while the Chargers are +120.

While the talk before the Dolphins at 49ers game focused a lot on the ties between the two teams, including Miami head coach Mike McDaniel returning to San Francisco after having previously served as the 49ers offensive coordinator, this game will include plenty of discussion about what could have been. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, while the Chargers used the sixth selection to add quarterback Justin Herbert. For the first two seasons in the league, Herbert was putting up crazy statistics while there were constant questions about Tagovailoa and if he could perform in the NFL. In 2022, Tagovailoa has fairly well proven himself as a top quarterback in the league and thrust himself into the MVP discussion. The pre-game analysis will include plenty of coverage of two of the top young quarterbacks in the league.

This game had originally been scheduled to be a Sunday afternoon game but was flexed last week into the Sunday Night Football slot. Kickoff for the game will be Sunday, Dec. 11, at 8:20 p.m. ET from Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.