Justin Herbert thrives in the spotlight, leads Chargers to crucial win over Dolphins

Justin Herbert and his near-perfect accuracy guided the Los Angeles Chargers to a 23-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night.

Los Angeles went 7-6 and were certainly still looking for the Kansas City Chiefs in AFC West, although that seems unlikely. The Dolphins fell to 8-5, giving the Buffalo Bills some breathing room in the race for AFC West.

The story of the game was Herbet, who faced his classmate from the 2020 NFL Draft. And he was outstanding.

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Herbert and the Chargers started the scoring in the second quarter with a 33-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker. But on the Chargers’ second drive, Herbert found Mike Williams in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Williams kind of kept his feet in bounds to secure the touchdown.

Before the quarter ended, Herbert led Los Angeles on a 13-play, 90-yard drive that ended with an Austin Ekeler touchdown to go up 17-7 at halftime.

The offensive performance slowed down a bit in the third quarter as the team kicked off their first two drives of the second half. The team did not score a touchdown, opting instead for two field goals from Dicker. The last came with 2:40 left in the game and capped a 17-play, 79-yard drive that lasted nearly 9 minutes.

DOLPHINS’ TYREEK HILL SCORES A TOUCHDOWN ON FUMBLE’S CHAOTIC RECOVERY AGAINST. CHARGERS

Justin Herbert #10 of the Los Angeles Chargers warms up during a game against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium on December 11, 2022 in Inglewood, California.
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Herbert finished the game 39 for 51 with 367 passing yards and one touchdown pass. Williams led the Chargers with six catches for 116 yards. Keenan Allen had 12 catches for 92 yards in the win.

Herbert, now with 13,056 passing yards, has the most passing yards in his first three seasons than any quarterback in NFL history.

Ekeler finished with 45 rushing yards.

Tua Tagovailoa struggled in the game despite the breaks Miami got during the game. He completed 10 of 28 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill.

The wide receiver, who appeared injured during the game, finished with four catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Hill also picked up a fumble and ran it 57 yards for a touchdown.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) scores a touchdown after recovering a fumble during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday December 11, 2022 in Inglewood, Calif. .
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Jaylen Waddle had two catches for 31 yards and Cedrick Wilson had two catches for 19 yards.

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Things are now a little tighter as the NFL season draws to a close. Both teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended Sunday night.