Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GUT-CHECK OPENER
Parkey’s FG ends difficult beginning to 2017 season
CARSON, Calif. — Nothing seemed right about this game for a couple of weeks. But in the end everything turned out right for the Miami Dolphins as kicker Cody Parkey hit a 54-yard game-winning field goal with 1:05 remaining to give Miami a 19-17 season-opening victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
But the Dolphins had to sweat it out. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers drove his team down the field before rookie kicker Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left.
On the game-winning drive, the Dolphins took over at their own 49-yard line with 3:02 remaining, trailing, 17-16. They ended up going 15 yards to the Chargers’ 36-yard line, where Parkey drilled the 54-yarder.
“It felt pretty good,” Parkey said of the kick. “I looked up. I needed to physically see it go through before I started celebrating. But I had some guys tackle me as I was trying to look.”
Parkey, who also hit field goals from 30, 28 and 35 yards, is now a 6 for 6 on field goals of 50 or more yards in his career.
The Dolphins’ delayed season opener at the Chargers had weird written all over it from the start. And it lived up to that billing. It wasn’t just that the Dolphins had to flee Hurricane Irma last week, it was everything surrounding this game, including its surroundings.
Still, when the Dolphins needed to make something happen, they did.
“It was a good day,” guard Jermon Bushrod said. “The people of Florida needed that.”
This game became the season opener because last week’s game against Tampa Bay at Hard Rock Stadium was postponed until Nov. 19 due to Hurricane Irma.
But that was just one of the things out of sorts. Linebacker Lawrence Timmons, a veteran free agent signee from Pittsburgh this offseason who was being counted on as a team leader, disappeared from the team without explanation Saturday. Timmons was inactive for the game.
Considering newly-signed middle linebacker Rey Maualuga (hamstring), who was overweight and out of shaped when he was signed, was also inactive. That meant Miami was without two of its projected starting trio at linebacker. Undrafted rookie Chase Allen replaced Timmons while undersized Mike Hull, as expected, replaced Maualuga.
And the Dolphins were playing in front of a crowd of 25,381, in a 27,000-seat stadium, the StubHub Center, a nice facility for most events but not an NFL game.
About the only sense of normalcy came from running back Jay Ajayi, who rushed for 122 yards on 28 carries.
Overall, the offense did fairly well even though it only had one touchdown. Quarterback Jay Cutler was 24 of 33 for 230 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He ended with a 101.8 passer rating. And he spread the ball around.
Wide receivers Jarvis Landry (13 receptions, 78 yards), DeVante Parker (four receptions, 85 yards) and Kenny Stills (two receptions for 37 yards, one touchdown) were all involved.
The Dolphins, who started arriving in Southern California about nine days ago, took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and trailed the rest of the way until Parkey’s game winner.
The Dolphins had a chance to tie the game at 17 in the third quarter. But Cutler overthrew Landry in the end zone on second down, then Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram beat left tackle Laremy Tunsil and sacked Cutler on third down. The Dolphins had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Parkey to cut their deficit to 17-13, and he later hit a 35-yarder to whittle the deficit to 17-16.
Los Angeles took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter when Rivers (31 of 39, 331 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions) hit tight end Antonio Gates on a 7-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown was the 112th by Gates, which established a record for most touchdowns by a tight end in NFL history.
Defensively, the Dolphins struggled. Los Angeles seemed comfortable offensively even though they only managed two touchdowns. But no one is worried about statistics right now. They just know they got a road win under adverse conditions and now they get to finally go home.
“Hopefully,” Ajayi said, “all my power is on, and I can be comfortable in my home.”