The Oakland Raiders (4-5) are about to launch a small winning streak. Against the Miami Dolphins (4-4) there was a narrow 27:24 away win. Two of his attacking playmakers Derek Carr and Marshawn Lynch were the main players in Miami.
After an eventful week in Miami, Jay Cutler (34/42,311 YDS, 3TD) was in the mood to set an exclamation point. After sharp criticism from Head Coach Adam Gase of the whole offense, Cutler showed what the coach must have liked. The Playcaller brought his first 16 passes to the man. Early mistakes, such as a Fumble by Running Back Kenyan Drake or a missed extra point by Cody Parkey, led to the backlog of the hosts.
The fact that you had to run after it for a lot of the game was due to the Playcaller on the other side. Derek Carr (21/30,300 YDS, TD, INT) was also criticized recently. But in Miami he played big again. Carr also demonstrated an effective performance. But unlike last time, he was also able to convince with long passes.
Both teams were penalties in a big problem area. The raiders also traded several false starts, 10 penalties for 105 yards. On the other side, there were 11 penalties for 107 yards. The Dolphins, however, committed this mainly on the defensive side. A decisive factor that helped the raiders to march down the field.
In the second round, the Raiders’ offensive line made the difference. The Rushing Game worked as rarely seen this year and helped Marshawn Lynch to the best game of the season. BeastMode crossed the final zone twice with the ball in his hands. The Dolphins could not catch up with this by refreshingly varied playcalling.
Miami Dolphins (4-4) – Oakland Raiders (4-5)24:27 (0:3,9:10,7:7,8:7) BOXSCORE
Numbers don’t lie. 11 penalties are too much. The Raiders made a lot of small mistakes, but Miami allowed his opponent to march down the field quickly by covering penalties. This was also the case in the decisive drive. A Unnecessary-Roughness fine against Reshad Jones and a passport interference penalty against Xavien Howard gave 33 yards to the Raiders. Lynch didn’t have any problems putting the game on hold.
In the first half, the Dolphins did an excellent job of stopping the raiders’ running game. Carr could be put under slight pressure. But Oaklands Playcaller looked very sure out of his pocket. In the second round, the decisive turnaround came. The Raiders’ O-Line won the duel at the Line of Scrimmage. Oakland also controlled the clock and managed the game aggressively very well.
Madness game by Jared Cook. The Raiders’ tight end was against Miami Omnipresent. Cook repeatedly stabbed the Dolphins coverage in painful gaps and collected simple completions and yards after catching. He crossed the 100 yard mark in the first half. For Carr, the tight end was the most reliable play station. At the end he held 8 passes of 9 targets and finished the game with 126 receiving yards.
The safety of the Dolphins could be caught in a completely wrong position with several placements. Thomas didn’t only have problems in the passport defense, though. He didn’t look good in the run-blocking on the second level either. For Thomas, one of the weaker evenings.