Takeo Spikes' 8-yard sack on a second and 10 play, followed by Eric Weddle's interception of a Matt Moore pass intended for Anthony Fasano with 2:53 to play, pretty much slammed the lid on any Miami hopes of getting its first victory. The Chargers ran out the clock and came away with a 26-16 victory Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium, and at 3-1 moved into first place in the AFC West.

* * *

The Chargers burned more than seven minutes on the drive that led to Nick Novak's 38-yard field goal, his fourth of the game, and a 26-16 lead with 4:28 left.

* * *

It's now 23-16, Chargers, after Dan Carpenter kicked a 51-field goal with 11:34 left in the game. Key play in the 46-yard drive, an 18-yard pass from Matt Moore to Lex Hilliard on third-and-3 at the Dolphins' 17.

* * *

Nick Novak drilled a 23-yard field goal with 1:15 left in the third quarter to pad the Chargers' lead over Miami, 23-13, after an exchange of pass interference penalties.

Malcolm Floyd appared to have caught a 31-yard pass from Philip Rivers down to the Miami 3, but was called for "illegal touching" -- i.e., stepping out of bounds and coming back in to catch the pass. On the very next play, Floyd and Miami safety Yeremiah Bell got tangled up downfield, and Bell was called for pass interference, giving the Chargers a first down at the 13.

* * *

Igor Olshansky, the defensive tackle who played here for so long and got wild cheers every time his name was announced -- to the point where I speculated the fans were cheering the idea of an Igor Olshansky rather than anything specific he did -- was in on his first tackle late in the third quarter.

No cheers, this time, when his name was announced. Just a few scattered boos.

* * *

Dan Carpenter's 37-yard field goal with 6:46 left in the third quarter cut San Diego's lead to 20-13. It was helped along, natch, by another Chargers' miscue, rookie cornerback Marcus Gilchrist's 25-yard pass interference penalty that nullified Eric Weddle's interception and instead gave Miami a first-and-10 at the Chargers' 41.

Matt Moore found Brandon Marshall for 14 yards and a first down, setting up the field goal.

Watching the Dolphins' pass defense, it's not hard to understand why they're 0-3.

They've now allowed six Philip Rivers completions of 15 or more yards, Two of them, a 20-yarder to Vincent Brown and a 42-yard play on a short pass to Ryan Mathews, set up Mike Tolbert's touchdown leap from the 1 with 9:24 left in the third quarter, giving San Diego a 20-10 lead.

Essentially, the Dolphins' coverage and tackling ability have been lacking today. If the Chargers pay attention, they could still turn this into a rout.

* * *

Nick Novak drilled a 48-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the first half, and the Chargers left the field with a 13-10 intermission lead over the Miami Dolphins ... the 0-3 Dolphins, for those who have forgotten.

* * *

Halftime statistical notes: Vincent Jackson already has 108 receiving yards, on three catches, The Chargers have 34 rushing yards, total, but Philip Rivers has thrown for 191 yards (14 of 19) with a touchdown and no picks.

Matt Moore, the former UCLA and Oregon State quarterback summoned after Chad Henne injured his shoulder late in the first quarter, completed 8 of 9 passes for 85 yards in the half. Reggie Bush has 38 yards on 10 carries to lead all rushers so far.

And so is tight end Antonio Gates, who is again being plagued by the plantar fasciitis that limited him to 10 games in 2010. And so is rookie defensive end Corey Liuget, who has an ankle injury. The Chargers are expected to plug in Steve Gregory to replace Sanders, Jacques Cesaire to replace Liuget and Randy McMichael to replace Gates.

The lists:

Chargers: S Paul Oliver, S Bob Sanders, RB Jordan Todman, LB Darryl Gamble, DE Luis Castillo, DE Corey Liuget.

(Incidentally, Castillo, who is out with a fractured tibia, is on the cover of the game program celebrating the Chargers' ties to the Latino community. Nice timing.)

Chiefs: QB Ricky Stanzi, S Reshard Langford, T Steve Maneri, WR Jerheme Urban, WR Jonathan Baldwin, DL Brandon Bair, DL Jerrell Powe.

But, just when Rivers appeared to be driving his team for the go-ahead score, he was hit by Jared Allen on a third-and-3 play at the Vikings' 24 just as he was winding up to throw the ball. The resulting floater landed in the arms of Cedric Griffin and ended that drive.

The traditional San Diego tone -- an early slumber -- was set on the very first play of the 2011 season, when Percy Harvin took the opening kickoff 3 yards deep in the end zone, eluded a tackle from rookie Darryl Gamble at the 30, veered left and strutted the last 5 yards to the end zone.

And not only that, but kicker Nate Kaeding hurt his left knee on the play and was carted to the locker room.

Mike Scifres filled in for him on one extra point -- following Philip Rivers' 1-yard touchdown pass to Mike Tolbert after Donovan McNabb was intercepted at his own 6 -- but not having their regular field goal kicker undoubtedly colored the Chargers' strategy late in the half when, facing a fourth-and-20 situation from the Vikings' 25, Norv Turner decided to go for it. Rivers was flushed out of hte pocket and threw it up for grabs, and had no chance.

But Rivers was ineffective most of the half, completing 15 of 25 for 142 yards with a sack, an interception and several uncharacteristically off-target throws.

Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson had 74 yards on 9 first half carries, including a 46-yard jaunt that set up Minnesota's second touchdown, McNabb's 3-yard scoring pass to Michael Jenkins.

(Don't worry, Norco citizens. Toby Gerhart is active for the Vikings.)

The inactives:

Chargers: WR Patrick Crayton, CB Shareece Wright, RB Jordan Todman, OLB Larry English, LB Jonas Mouton, ILB Na'il Diggs, WR-KR Vincent Brown.

Vikings: CB Asher Allen, CB Brandon Burton, S Mistral Raymond, LB Xavier Adibi, C Brandon Fusco, T DeMarcus Love, DE D'Aundre Reed.

(With the exception, of course, of the stars spending the evening on the sidelines rather than being on the field, entertaining those who paid regular season ticket prices to be here.)

But at its most basic, that last exhibition isn't about the team. It's about individuals, and what they can display in one last chance to show their wares to the people who will decide their fates in two days.

The Chargers' roster Thursday night was 80. Saturday it must be trimmed to 53. So, counting the guys who will be brought back for the practice squad after they clear waivers, a quarter of the guys who wore San Diego uniforms in the club's 20-17 loss to San Francisco won't be wearing them again.

Different players approach it in different ways.

Rivers set that play up with a pretty 48-yard strike down the sideline to Vincent Jackson.

Nate Kaeding added a 32-yard field goal with 2:22 left before halftime for San Diego.

Tavaris Jackson played two series at quarterback for Pete Carroll's Seahawks, after which former Chargers' No. 3 quarterback Charlie Whitehurst took over.

Cornerback Shareece Wright (Colton High, USC), the subject of today's column, was not on the list of players not expected to play that the Chargers handed out before the game. But Wright, who has missed a full week of practice with a groin injury, was not in uniform Thursday night.

Those who were on that list included TE Antonio Gates, OT Marcus McNeill, LB Larry English and CB Antoine Cason, all projected starters.

This is, remember, only the first step. Lots of specific issues still need to be negotiated, including the specific financing, leasing arrangements, what infrastructure expenses AEG will be responsible for, and the like. As I said in the column, lots of moving parts.

Sam Farmer of the LA Times noted that this vote put LA's effort to return the NFL into the red zone. Maybe so, but if you want to put it in football terms, this is a city that hasn't converted any of those opportunities in 16 years, and is in fact prone to interceptions. So nothing is guaranteed.

And here's today's view from San Diego, including Mark Fabiani's current spin, from the Union-Tribune's Matthew Hall, who has been front and center on stadium issues in that city.

Bisaccia (bih-SAW-chee-uh) joined the Buccaneers in 2002 and in his first year won a Super Bowl championship as Tampa Bay featured one of the league's top special teams units. In 2010, the Buccaneers coverage units allowed just 7.3 yards per punt return (7th in the NFL) and 20.7 yards per kickoff return (8th in the NFL). Tampa Bay's kickoff return unit averaged 24.3 yards per return (8th in the NFL), including an 89-yard touchdown return.

"Rich's special teams have had success in this league," said Chargers head coach Norv Turner in a statement released by the club. "He's been with Tampa Bay for nine years and their teams have been consistently good to excellent. He helped them win a Super Bowl. Rich is a high-energy guy that I know will bring out the best in our players."

Bisaccia's comment, also disseminated by the Chargers:

"This is a tremendous opportunity for me to be part of a winning organization and work with Norv Turner. There's a real opportunity here to win it all. I've worked with Jon Gruden and now I have the opportunity to work with Norv. These are two of the best coaching minds in football. I'm really looking forward to it."

In nine seasons with the Bucs' Bisaccia's kickoff teams were consistently among the NFL's best, allowing the sixth lowest kickoff return average (21.0) and averaging 23.0 yards on their own returns, fourth best in the league. They scored eight return touchdowns in that span, four on kickoffs and four on punts. In 2009, the Bucs led the NFL with six blocked kicks, led the league in kickoff return average, were fourth in punt return average and second in opponent kickoff return.

Special teams gaffes were a big part of the 2-5 start that put the Chargers in a hole from which they could not extricate themselves. They weren't the sole factor. But Crosby, who had just finished his ninth season on the Chargers staff, is the first to go.

"We appreciate Steve's hard work and dedication to this team over the past nine seasons," Coach Norv Turner said in a statement distributed by the club.