Hyde5: How the Dolphins can beat the Chargers in season opener

Happy New Year. You made it. What has become the big day on the sports calendar, the NFL’s opening Sunday, has arrived and it’s time to start another weekly series of how the Dolphins can win. It doesn’t mean they will win. But here’s what they have to do Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Charges to leave 1-0:

1. Kendall Lamm and Austin Jackson can’t lose the game. They won’t win the game, just as no tackle can. But they’re in such pressure points of Sunday that they could lose it. The fragile nature of the top end of this roster hit right from the start with Terron Armstead out in what will be a week-to-week question, just as last year. The good news: Lamm is an upgrade at back-up left tackle from last year’s Greg Little and has been with the first unit most of the preseaon. The bad news: Lamm and Jackson match up against Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa. The Chargers ends move around, and Jackson said this week he’s prepared for both of them. Lamm and Jackson can receiving blocking help, too. Bosa is the more dangerous pass rusher and generally spends more time over the right tackle, meaning Jackson. He was hurt most of last season and now plays his hometown team in the opener. Jackson hasn’t played much in three seasons and hasn’t looked great when playing. He looked OK in preseason. Lamm is a career journeyman for a reason. The less you notice them Sunday, the better for the Dolphins.

2. Run the ball if Chargers beg you to. This was the so-simple solution the Dolphins didn’t stick with a year ago and added to their offensive problems when Tua Tagovailoa had a 10-for-28 passing day. Here’s a quick sketch: Vic Fangio’s scheme, which Brandon Staley runs a version of, is traditionally susceptible to the run (this has implications for the Dolphins, of course). The Chargers ranked 27th in rushing defense (145.8 yards a game) last year and 30th two years ago (138.9) in Staley’s first season. The Dolphins ran only 19 times for 92 yards. Some of that is they had the ball so little (20:22 time of possession). But maybe they also had the ball so little because they didn’t have an efficient plan. It happens. Let’s no overdo this, too. They weren’t running the ball great. Tagovailoa was the leading rusher with three carries for 28 yards – his season-high for yardage. Mike McDaniel is probably so tired of hearing about the Chargers’ defensive game plan of jamming Dolphins receivers and taking away the middle of the field that he has concocted some grand scheme. Then again, maybe just run the ball. It can help the tackles from the Chargers pass rush, too.

3. Fangio continues to beat Justin Herbert and Kellen Moore. The Fangio defense won’t be up and running perfectly smoothly in Game 1. He’s still experimenting with players to the point he’s planning to try different combinations in the secondary to get some understanding on what’ll work. But this is a defense with some great parts that should cause fits for any offense. Fangio, too, has some history with Herbert and Moore. The last time he faced Moore in 2021, Fangio’s Denver defense held Dallas to 16 points (a 30-16 Denver win). Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott completed 19 of 39 passes for 232 yards, a touchdown and an interception and Dallas ran 14 times for 62 yards. A key: Dallas only had the ball for 18 minutes and 48 secons. In Fangio’s four games against Herbert in 2020 and 2021, the Chargers scored 21, 21, 19 and 30 points. There’s history here for both sides. The question for the Dolphins is how quickly they can acclimate to Fangio’s proven ideas. And …

 4. Chargers receivers vs. Dolphins secondary. With questions at one safety and Eli Apple brought in to play cornerback, the Dolphins enter the opener needing some good answers against a strong San Diego receiving group. Mike Williams is the home-run threat. But this is a big and strong group that will attack Dolpins linebackers, too. Last year, the Dolphins put Xavien Howard on him and Williams still had a big day. Let’s remember this getting back to Fangio: In the past 10 seasons, his defenses have been top-10 in passing yardages eight times.

5. Tyreek Hill opens up this offense. The most important player on the Dolphins hasn’t changed. He was getting wide open in preseason again in ways he did all last year – and ways you just don’t expect NFL receivers to do. His speed and smarts coupled with Mike McDaniel’s designs open up everything for the Dolphins offense and there’s no reason to think he won’t cause an annually underachieving Chargers defense fits. Brandon Staley had one good defensive game last year. That was the Dolphins game. For the rest of his two years with the Chargers, his defense has either been a mess or his head-coaching has been a mess. Hill is one guy who can expose problems.