SAN DIEGO _ 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.
Of course, 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.
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 Los Angeles 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.
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 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 for an NFL game.
About the only sense of normalcy came from running back Jay Ajayi, who rushed for 122 yards on 28 carries.
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.
Parkey hit a 35-yard field goal with 6:28 remaining to cut the Dolphins' deficit.
The Dolphins had a chance to tie the game at 17 in the third quarter. But Cutler overthrew an open Jarvis Landry in the end zone on second down, and 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.
Los Angeles took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter when quarterback Philip Rivers 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.
Cutler tied the game at 10 when he used his feet to scramble and buy time before finding wide receiver Kenny Stills in the end zone for a 29-yard touchdowns pass. Cutler showed good pocket presence on the play as he felt the pressure to his left, moved right and hit Stills on a well-thrown pass.
The Chargers took a 10-3 lead into the locker room at halftime, and tempers flared as the teams exited the field through the same tunnel, a rarity in the NFL. The hostility stemmed from wide receiver DeVante Parker getting hit in the knees by safety Jahleel Addae a few plays earlier. The team went at it briefly in the tunnel before heading to their respective locker rooms.
The Chargers took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter when running back Melvin Gordon crashed into the end zone from the 1-yard line. A pass interference penalty in the end zone by safety Reshad Jones put the Chargers at the 1.
The Dolphins took a 3-0 lead when Parkey hit a 36-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 70-yard drive that consumed 6:18.
Cutler had a low-key first half, going 13 of 17 for 75 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions for an 82.4 passer rating. Miami had 121 yards of offense compared to 175 yards for Los Angeles.
Ajayi had 11 carries for 56 yards in the first half while Rivers was 14 of 17 for 152 yards and a 103.9 passer rating.
The Dolphins are at the New York Jets next week.
