MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jim Harbaugh will never forget the sequence.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert escaped the Dolphins' pass rush and zipped a pass to Ladd McConkey for a 42-yard catch-and-run, stunning Miami's home crowd in the final minute of Sunday's back-and-forth matchup.
The play set up Cameron Dicker’s fifth field goal of the game, sealing the Chargers' 29-27 win.
“He’s able to just mighty-man it and shake it off and hit Ladd McConkey,” said Harbaugh, LA's second-year coach. “I’m going to remember that play until they throw dirt over top of me. That’s how great I feel about that.”
The Dolphins overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and took the lead when Tua Tagovailoa threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Darren Waller with 46 seconds remaining.
Nyheim Hines set the Chargers up at their 41 with a 40-yard return of the ensuing kickoff. On second-and-10, Herbert stepped up in the pocket, got free from the grasp of Jaelan Phillips and threw a short pass to McConkey, who broke a tackle and ran out of bounds at the Miami 17. Dicker's 33-yard kick won it for Los Angeles (4-2), which snapped a two-game skid.
“The thing that was going through my mind was no sacks,” Herbert said. “A race against time. I felt like I could stay up and get the ball off. I saw Ladd. He did a great job running across the middle and extending the play.”
Added Harbaugh: “Justin Herbert. I mean, he’s like Hercules out there.”
Herbert completed 29 of 38 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Kimani Vidal, getting the bulk of the carries for Los Angeles’ banged-up backfield, finished with 18 rushes for 124 yards and had a 7-yard touchdown catch. McConkey had seven catches for 100 yards and a TD.
Tagovailoa, who finished with 205 yards passing, threw his third interception of the day on Miami's final possession, and the Dolphins (1-5) were booed off the field at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Shocked. Shocked,” Tagovailoa said. “This is something that we’ve talked about collectively as a team, about being able to finish in games like this where we have the opportunity to win the game. And it’s not just one side of the ball. It’s every phase. I’ve contributed with the turnovers. ... It’s frustrating to say the least.”
Both of Herbert’s TD throws came in the second half as the Chargers turned a four-point third-quarter deficit into a 10-point lead in minutes.
The Chargers’ opening drive of the third went 13 plays for 77 yards and ended in Herbert extending the play to find McConkey in the end zone. That put Los Angels ahead 16-13.
Tagovailoa was intercepted on Miami’s next drive, leading to Vidal’s score that gave the Chargers a 23-13 advantage.
Tagovailoa was 21 of 32 with his second three-turnover game of the season. His first pick landed in Jaylen Waddle’s hands before popping out of the receiver's grasp and into the hands of safety Tony Jefferson on Miami’s second play from scrimmage.
“I find so many similarities to boxing and football,” Harbaugh said. “Especially in the sense of man, your corner man asks you, ‘Can you go? Can you keep going?’ And it’s like, ‘Give me one more round. And give me one more series.’ ...
“Like boxing, it is a football fight every single week. And you’ve got two teams that were desperate for a win and playing their hearts out there. That’s the nature of the NFL. It’s diabolical that way.”
De'Von Achane had 16 carries for 128 yards and two TDs — including an electric 49-yard score in the first. His 4-yard run in the fourth pulled Miami within six points with about seven minutes left.
“To lose like that, it’s like, what more could we have done?” Achane said.
After Miami’s much-maligned defense limited the Chargers to three field goals — one of the worst red-zone teams in the NFL, Los Angeles failed to find the end zone on its first three trips inside the 20 — the Dolphins led 13-9 at halftime.
In a well-executed two-minute drill, Tagovailoa led a nine-play, 83-yard scoring drive highlighted by a bobbled 49-yard catch from Waddle to set up Riley Patterson’s 27-yarder to end the half.
Waddle’s big gain was the Dolphins’ second play of 40-plus yards in the half. Miami had just two such plays on the season entering Sunday.
Chargers: Host Indianapolis next Sunday.
Dolphins: At Cleveland next Sunday.
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