Late 54-yard field goal gives Miami victory
CARSON, Los Angeles County — The Miami Dolphins felt they had won one for hurricane-ravaged South Florida in their belated season opener.
Cody Parkey hit his fourth field goal from 54 yards with 1:05 to play, and the Dolphins rallied in the fourth quarter to spoil the Los Angeles Chargers’ home opener with a 19-17 victory Sunday.
Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt with five seconds left after Philip Rivers maneuvered the Chargers (0-2) into scoring range in the final minute before a crowd of 25,381 in their first home game since relocating to the Los Angeles area after 56 seasons in San Diego.
Jay Cutler passed for 230 yards and Jay Ajayi rushed for 122 for the Dolphins, who spent the past nine days in California after leaving Miami early to avoid Hurricane Irma.
“I think it’s huge for us to come out here through all the adversity that we had to go through the past couple of weeks and just put out a performance,” Ajayi said. “It shows how resilient our team is.”
With “ONE FLORIDA” decals on their helmets and their hometown in their hearts, the Dolphins went through a tight game and then celebrated wildly when Koo pushed his kick barely right.
“I think adversity shows character, and here we are,” Miami defensive end Cameron Wake said. “It definitely has been a crazy past few days. Every so often, something happens that puts things in perspective. Football takes a back seat for a while, but once we weathered the storm and got out ... we were just trying to get back to normal.”
The Dolphins were wellrested after their home opener against Tampa Bay was postponed, leaving them to play their latest season opener since 1977. Parkey still did most of the Dolphins’ scoring, connecting from 30, 28 and 35 yards before burying his longest kick in the waning moments.
Kenny Stills caught a 29yard TD pass in the third quarter from Cutler, who went 24-for-33 without an interception in his Dolphins debut.
“There’s definitely an edge to this team,” said Cutler, who came out of retirement to replace injured Ryan Tannehill. “This team doesn’t get down. It just bounces right back.”
Rivers passed for 331 yards, and Antonio Gates set an NFL record with his 112th touchdown reception as a tight end, breaking his tie with Tony Gonzalez.
The dynamic duo couldn’t prevent the Chargers from taking yet another agonizing loss: They’ve dropped 11 games by eight points or fewer since the start of last season, three more than any other NFL team.
“I believe we will figure out how to win these close games,” said Anthony Lynn, whose first head-coaching victory will have to wait at least another week.
Melvin Gordon scored the Chargers’ first touchdown in their new home from 1 yard in the second quarter.