WEEK 11 · FINAL
THE READ
Jordan Hayes
The armchair coach
77 points between Chargers and Dolphins
Miami's defense never got home, recording 0 sacks while Los Angeles's Justin Herbert went 25 of 37 for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns, with Ladd McConkey catching 11 of them for 177 yards and 3 scores in the Chargers' 42-35 win. The Dolphins ran the ball effectively—172 yards to the Chargers' 89—and De'Von Achane churned out 107 yards on 15 carries, but Miami's passing game stalled at 170 yards and couldn't keep pace with Herbert's arm talent on display. The margin came down to air yards: Los Angeles outgained Miami 354 to 170 through the air and 443 to 342 overall. For a team at 1-9, the takeaway is plain—without pressure in the backfield and without answers for Herbert's hot hand, defensive lapses in a shootout add up fast.
Jordan Hayes
The armchair coach
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chargers | -5.0 | +2.7 | -7.7 | -10 |
| Dolphins | -16.5 | -2.6 | -13.9 | -8 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
IN THE BOOTH
Kayla James
The showman
This was a shootout where two teams drowning in losses decided to simply outscore each other, and Los Angeles won it because Justin Herbert found Ladd McConkey in the end zone 3 times—McConkey untouchable all afternoon with 177 yards, the kind of performance that sticks around when these teams look back at what could have been.
Marcus Reyes
The numbers guy
· replying
Los Angeles won a game where Miami's pass rush didn't register a sack and the Chargers coughed up the ball just once—not exactly a reckoning, more like a team that needed one thing to go right and got it.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Justin Herbert
Chargers
25/37, 354 yards, 4 TD
Ladd McConkey
Chargers
11 catches, 177 yards, 3 TD
De'Von Achane
Dolphins
15 carries, 107 yards, 1 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Through the air
Chargers 354, Dolphins 170
Chargers
Total yards
Chargers 443, Dolphins 342
Chargers
On the ground
Dolphins 172, Chargers 89
Dolphins
Giveaways
Dolphins 0, Chargers 1
Dolphins
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 70% · Rush 30% · 27.4 scored, 35.1 allowed
9.2 yds/att
62.7% completions
4.0 yds/carry
362.6 yds/game
1.9 giveaways/game
7.9% sack rate
last 5: 1-4
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 69 · Aggressive
Balance 80
Ball security 48
Back usage 26%
QB runs 2.0/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 92
WR 88
TE 80
RB 85
OL 86
DL 84
LB 80
DB 86
Best: Derwin James Jr SS 93
Fastest: Brenen Thompson WR 97 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Balanced
Pass 55% · Rush 45% · 21.6 scored, 35.5 allowed
5.6 yds/att
48.8% completions
5.9 yds/carry
304.1 yds/game
2.1 giveaways/game
7.3% sack rate
last 5: 0-5
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 22 · Turnover-prone
Balance 95
Ball security 42
Back usage 34%
QB runs 5.8/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 78
WR 81
TE 73
RB 88
OL 82
DL 83
LB 83
DB 80
Best: De'Von Achane HB 94
Fastest: De'Von Achane HB 96 SPD
1 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
SD
Chargers · his last 8 games
Throws it
One target
Pass / run67% / 33%
Points for / against29.5 — 34.6
Margin-5.1
Giveaways a game1.4
Sacks taken5.0% of dropbacks
Lead backKeaton Mitchell · 11.5/g
Top targetQuentin Johnston · 41%
QB carries2.5 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Chargers receivers vs Dolphins secondary
88 v 80
CHARGERS
Dolphins receivers vs Chargers secondary
81 v 86
CHARGERS
Chargers line vs Dolphins front
86 v 83
CHARGERS
Dolphins line vs Chargers front
82 v 84
EVEN
Chargers backs vs Dolphins run defence
85 v 83
EVEN
Dolphins backs vs Chargers run defence
88 v 83
DOLPHINS
Chargers passer vs Dolphins secondary
92 v 80
CHARGERS
Dolphins passer vs Chargers secondary
78 v 86
CHARGERS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
CHARGERS
DOLPHINS
CHARGERS
DOLPHINS
CHARGERS
DOLPHINS
CHARGERS
DOLPHINS
CHARGERS
DOLPHINS
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Herbert QB | 25/37 | 354 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 134.2 |
DOLPHINS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arch Manning QB | 17/34 | 170 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 74.3 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keaton Mitchell HB | 19 | 55 | 2.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Kimani Vidal HB | 8 | 27 | 3.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Justin Herbert QB | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Quentin Johnston WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ladd McConkey WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
DOLPHINS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De'Von Achane HB | 15 | 107 | 7.1 | 1 | 4 | 52 | 23 | 0 |
| Ollie Gordon II HB | 7 | 42 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 23 | 0 |
| Arch Manning QB | 5 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Michael Trigg TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Caleb Douglas WR | 1 | -2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladd McConkey WR | 11 | 177 | 16.1 | 3 | 75 | 0 | 58 |
| Quentin Johnston WR | 7 | 137 | 19.6 | 1 | 61 | 0 | 62 |
| Mack Hollins TE | 5 | 27 | 5.4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| Darnell Washington TE | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| Brenen Thompson WR | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
DOLPHINS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Bell WR | 6 | 65 | 10.8 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Caleb Douglas WR | 4 | 53 | 13.2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 24 |
| Michael Trigg TE | 4 | 33 | 8.2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 11 |
| Malik Washington WR | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Will Kacmarek TE | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Ollie Gordon II HB | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daiyan Henley MIKE | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Tuli Tuipulotu DT | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Hart FS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Colin Simmons LEDG | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Akheem Mesidor REDG | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jack Jones CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tarheeb Still CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Decamerion Richardson CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Drayk Bowen MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Gray CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derwin James Jr SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| VJ Payne FS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nick Barrett DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
DOLPHINS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Rapp SS | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Louis Moore FS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Daequan Hardy CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Zach Sieler DT | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| JuJu Brents CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Chris Johnson CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Trey Moore REDG | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Rodriguez MIKE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Joshua Uche REDG | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyrel Dodson WILL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Michael Taaffe SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Marshall Jr CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Phillips DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chop Robinson LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordyn Brooks MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
CHARGERS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Dicker K | 2/2 | 4/4 | 42 |
DOLPHINS
nothing recorded
RECENT FORM
Chargers
L
34–35 vs Raiders
WK 10
L
17–31 vs Ravens
WK 9
L
49–55 vs Bears
WK 8
Dolphins
L
24–31 vs Jets
WK 9
L
17–37 vs Patriots
WK 8
L
10–52 vs Cowboys
WK 7
TEAM STATS
| Chargers | Dolphins | |
|---|---|---|
| 443 | TOTAL YARDS | 342 |
| 354 | PASSING YARDS | 170 |
| 89 | RUSHING YARDS | 172 |
| 0 | SACKS ALLOWED | 1 |
| 1 | SACKS MADE | 0 |
| 1 | GIVEAWAYS | 0 |
| 0 | TAKEAWAYS | 1 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
1
CHARGERS
—
0
DOLPHINS