When Jay Cutler led the Dolphins to a go-ahead field goal with less than two minutes remaining in Los Angeles, it looked like the Chargers were going to suffer a loss. But Philip Rivers led a drive of his own, putting Los Angeles in field goal range, down two points.
It wasn’t without weirdness, though; with no timeouts remaining, Rivers ran a QB sneak to the right in an apparent attempt to get the ball on the right hash for rookie kicker Younghoe Koo. But then, rather than spiking the ball on third down to get the field goal unit on, the Chargers either attempted to or mistakenly attempted a fire drill, with Koo sprinting on and only some of the offense leaving. With just seconds left, it looked like they wouldn’t even get the kick off, or if so, it’d be rushed.
But then the Dolphins called a timeout, Adam Gase apparently wanting to preserve a Hail Mary attempt at the whistle, though it’s possible he didn’t see the confusion on the field from his vantage point. Regardless, that allowed for Koo to get set. The rookie, incredibly accurate in college, had his game-winning attempt on Monday night blocked in Denver.
That wasn’t an issue today, but things still didn’t go well:
@JimmyTraina The Chargers set off fireworks after their kicker misses game losing fg attempt. Welcome to LA football fans. pic.twitter.com/q0YLwwg0sE
— Travis Gibbs (@tgibbs02) September 17, 2017
Wide right! But as that tweet notes, and as you could hear on the broadcast, the Chargers still set off the celebratory fireworks. Here’s a better, Zapruder-film style look, keep your eye on the end zone corner:
Younghoe Koo misses his try for the winning kick… Dolphins win.
Final:
LA – 17
Miami – 19#Chargers #Dolphins #Stubhub pic.twitter.com/fj0qepZJZW— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) September 17, 2017
Obviously the Chargers are still settling into their new (temporary) home at the StubHub Center, to the point they failed to sell out their first game in the city despite the capacity being less than 30,000:
Today's attendance: 25,381
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) September 17, 2017
But even so, it’s probably best to get a handle on which team you’re supposed to be shooting off celebratory fireworks for. The Chargers are at “home” the next two weeks, too, so maybe they’ll get things ironed out. Hopefully Younghoe Koo recovers, though. He seems awesome, regardless of results so far.
