Raiders Round-Up Week 11: Offense Flounders Against Dolphins

They say there’s no such thing as moral victories in football. They’re right. The Raiders defense played great all game, but unfortunately the offense just never got going, and despite the positives we can take from this game, a loss is still a loss.  

 

The disparity between Vegas’s offense and defense started right from the beginning, as the Silver and Black got a holding penalty and then nearly fumbled the ball on their opening drive, but then turned around and got a huge fumble recovery by LB Luke Masterson. 

 

Antonio Pierce’s new offensive mindset of “Run the damn ball” was put to the test on the short drive, but unfortunately, the Raiders struggled all day long to pound the rock, and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal and an early 3-0 lead. 

 

For as good as the defense played all day, that pesky Tyreek Hill still exists and all it took was one catch in space, and Hill was off to the races, getting into the end zone on a 38 yard pass. 

 

On the ensuing drive, some of that old school, Al Davis style, razzle-dazzle shone through, as Aiden O’Connell was able to connect with Davonte Adams on an absolutely perfect 46 yard bomb and the Raiders reclaimed the lead 10-7. 

 

O’Connell is still very much a rookie, and that shows in some of his decisions and moments of inaccuracy, however it is plays like this that show why the Raiders drafted him in the fourth round. Whether O’Connell is the quarterback of the future for Las Vegas is still undetermined, but his ability to make these kinds of plays are why we are rolling with him for the rest of the season. 

 

Nearing midway through the second half, and trailing 10-7, the Dolphins made the interesting choice of going for it on fourth and one from the 3 yard line. The football gods punished them when Nate Hobbs came up with a solid open-field tackle on Tyreek Hill to force the turnover on downs. Not only that, but Hill banged up his hand on the play and went back to the locker room early to get looked at by the medical staff. The analytics may say otherwise, but I am a firm believer that you ALWAYS put the points on the board in the first half. Miami’s 12 play drive was all for naught and the Raiders still had the lead.

 

In Hill’s temporary absence, Jaylen Waddle stepped up huge and Miami’s next possession lead to their second touchdown of the half, as Salvon Ahmed got in on a picture perfect screen pass play, and Miami found themselves up 14-10.

 

The Raiders offense continued to struggle to move the ball effectively and had to punt once again. However, the football gods decided Miami also needed to pay punitive damages for that previous fourth down decision, and on their next drive, current man-crush Nate Hobbs came up with his second huge play of the half, this time forcing a fumble that was recovered by LB Divine Deablo. Unfortunately, Las Vegas was stopped and had to settle for another field goal, closing the gap to 14-13 heading into the half.

 

Aside from the one long throw, the offense really struggled to get much going, as Miami crowded the box and held Josh Jacobs to a mere 39 yards rushing, forcing the game to be won by the passing game, something this team is not built to do. 

 

The Raiders defense played an amazing second half of football, as highlighted by the fact that they got their third turnover of the game on the very first play of the second half, when Isaiah Pola-Mao intercepted a deep ball intended for Jaylen Waddle. But, again, the Raiders went three and out (something they’d done 4 times throughout the game) and couldn’t capitalize on the momentum. 

 

On the ensuing drive, the defense came up big and forced a long field goal attempt from the Dolphins, which they missed. However, on the very next play, Aiden O’Connell threw the first of his three interceptions of the half and another opportunity was squandered. 

 

Getting a mere six points off of three turnovers and a missed field goal against an offense as good as Miami is not the recipe for success. Miami would kick two field goals in the third quarter and enter the fourth with a 20-13 lead.

 

With the game still in reach, the Raiders passing game started to come alive. The Raiders got into Miami territory on all three of their fourth quarter possessions, but the clock was working against them and they found themselves having to go for it instead of kicking field goals. Ironically, had they kicked field goals on their first two fourth quarter drives instead of going for it on fourth, they could have had an opportunity to win 22-20, but it’s hard to fault Antonio Pierce for getting into desperation mode, as Miami’s offense can explode at any time. 

 

The game ended with a ridiculous interception in the endzone by future hall of famer Jalen Ramsey, and the Dolphins won 20-13, having blanked the Raiders in the entire second half. 

 

As stated at the beginning of the article, there are no moral victories in football. There is plenty to improve upon, but this defense has proven to be solid and has the ability to keep us around in any game. If the offensive line can get back to full strength (we were playing without former first round pick Kolton Miller once again) and we can control the clock with our run game, we will be in every game for the rest of the season.

 

In week 12, the Raiders host the Chiefs, which will be another tough test for our defense. Let's hope the offense can help them out a bit more and make it a competitive game.

 

*Correction* Last week, a factual error was made when it was stated that the Raiders forced the Jets to burn all of their time outs during Vegas’s last drive. The Jets still had one timeout remaining.