WEEK 11
• Who: Raiders (5-5) at Dolphins (6-3)
• When: 10 a.m.
• Where: Hard Rock Stadium
• TV: CBS
• Radio: Raider Nation Radio 920 AM, KOMP 92.3 FM
• Betting line: Dolphins -13.5, over/under: 46.5
Antonio Pierce’s undefeated start as Raiders’ interim coach has come to an end.
Las Vegas put together a spirited effort at Hard Rock Stadium Sunday afternoon, but didn’t have enough offense to pull off what would have been one of the biggest upsets of the NFL season in a 20-13 defeat.
Las Vegas scored its only touchdown, a 46-yard connection from Aidan O’Connell to Davante Adams on a post route, on the final play of the first quarter to go up 10-7. But then it didn’t have another play that picked up as much as double-digit yards until late in the fourth quarter when trying to rally.
Las Vegas went seven straight possessions from the second quarter into the early first quarter with no more than 10 yards and one first down gained. Pierce and offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree appeared hesitant to open up the playbook for O’Connell, who ended up completing 24 of 41 passing attempts for 271 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.
He also took a pair of critical sacks from Dolphins edge rusher Jaelen Phillips.
The Raiders’ defense had its share of big plays too. The unit kept Las Vegas in the game with three turnovers, two of which led directly to field goals by Daniel Carlson — a 34- and 48-yarder.
He outdueled Miami kicker Jason Sanders, who missed one of his three second-half attempts, but it wasn’t enough. The Dolphins scored their pair of touchdowns in the first half with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa connecting on a 38-yard pass to Tyreek Hill and then an 11-yard screen to Salvon Ahmed.
Tagovailoa finished with 325 yards with the aforementioned two touchdowns, an interception and a lost fumble. Hill, as usual, was his favorite target with 10 receptions for 146 yards.
The Raiders finally started moving the ball once they opened up their offense in the latter part of the fourth quarter — and a 31-yard completion to Hunter Renfrow even got them to the fringes of the red zone — but couldn’t finish with a touchdown on either of their final two drives. A 39-yard deep pass with 32 seconds left to play looked like it had chance to find Adams’ arms but Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey leapt up for a game-sealing interception.
The Raiders return home next week to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more coverage and read below for updates from throughout the game.
Jason Sanders missed a long field-goal attempt early in the third quarter, but he made a more intermediate one midway through.
It’s now 17-13 Dolphins after Sanders kicked through a 41-yard field goal. The score was set up by an Aidan O’Connell interception to Jalen Ramsey.
The Raiders also have a turnover in the second half — an interception by Isaiah Pola-Mao — but they couldn’t do anything with it as the team went three-and-out with interim coach Antonio Pierce opting to punt on a 4th-and-1 near midfield.
Dolphins clinging to small lead at halftime
Another Dolphins’ turnover set up another Raiders’ field goal right before the end of the first half but the visitors still trail.
Miami leads Las Vegas 14-13 at halftime at Hard Rock Stadium despite Daniel Carlson’s 47-yard field goal easily splitting the uprights with seconds remaining. The three points were set up by a forced fumble and recovery by cornerback Nate Hobbs after a completed pass to rookie tight end Julian Hill.
Miami scored its second touchdown on the prior drive, with Salvon Ahmed having taken an 11-yard screen from Tua Tagovailoa, who’s completed 19 of 21 attempts for 205 yards.
Las Vegas quarterback Aidan O’Connell has thrown for 103 yards and a touchdown on 10-for-14 passing.
First-quarter scoring frenzy continues
Hope bettors took the over in this one.
The Raiders just squeezed in the game’s third total score with 1 second remaining in the first quarter. It’s 10-7 Las Vegas after Davante Adams caught a 46-yard touchdown pass on a post route from quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
The score made for a quick response to a touchdown by Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill as the drive lasted only four plays and 75 yards.
Dolphins score first touchdown
Like he so often does, wide receiver Tyreek Hill found an opening in zone coverage and outraced everyone on the defense.
It’s now Dolphins 7, Raiders 3 with two minutes to go in the first quarter. Hill’s touchdown came from 38 yards out on a pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive that took off 4:38 on the clock.
Las Vegas appeared to get a stop on a 3rd-and-11 play on Miami’s side of the field early in the possession via Malcolm Koonce sack, but cornerback Jakorian Bennett drew a flag for holding.
Carlson kicks a field goal
A pair of early reviewed plays going their way has the Raiders up 3-0 early at the Dolphins.
Daniel Carlson knocked through a 34-yard field goal at 6:41 of the first quarter for the game’s first points. The Raiders’ offense only gained 14 yards on the drive, but it didn’t matter as the defense set them up with a short field.
Linebacker Luke Masterson forced a fumble on a scrambling Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on a third-down play. Safety Marcus Epps scooped up the loose ball.
Tagovailoa was originally ruled down, but replay determined it was a clean fumble.
The Dolphins had a score wiped off the board after a challenge minutes earlier when tight end Michael Mayer — who already has two catches for 29 yards — fumbled and Jevon Holland returned it 39 yards.
Replay determined that Mayer never had possession.
Inactives announced
Left tackle Kolton Miller will miss his second straight for the Las Vegas Raiders today at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miller was listed as questionable with a shoulder injury coming into today but was just included as part of the inactives list. The good news is, the whole starting left side of the line wasn’t ruled out as guard Dylan Parham — who was also questionable with a calf injury — will play.
Jermaine Eluemunor is expected to slide from right to left tackle for the second straight week to fill in for Miller while Thayer Munford holds down the tackle spot at the other side of the line.
There was neither any other injury suspense coming into the game nor any surprises before kickoff. The Raiders’ other inactives are linebacker Jaylon Smith, linebacker Amari Burney, quarterback Brian Hoyer (emergency third quarterback), center Hroniss Grassu, defensive tackle Byron Young and defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera.
The Dolphins will see the return of injured rookie running back De’Von Achane, but will be short a few depth skill players in wide receiver Braxton Berrios, wide receiver Chase Claypool and running back Jeff Wilson Jr.
Pregame
Antonio Pierce has reinforced his designation as a “player’s coach” going into his third game as the interim head of the Raiders.
Las Vegas was initially slated to spend the practice week in Florida acclimating to the Eastern time zone and a different climate, but the players generally weren’t fans of the first time the team decamped across the country this year.
A stay in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., ahead of a Week 2 game neither went smoothly nor yielded better results as Las Vegas was smashed 38-7 at Buffalo.
So Pierce scrapped the extended Florida trip. Instead, he’s had the Raiders practicing in the morning at their Henderson headquarters to get used to the earlier kickoff time ahead of their flight to South Florida on Saturday.
The Raiders need every edge they can get going into what might be their most difficult game of the season. Miami’s offense has been arguably the best, and almost certainly the most inventive, in the NFL this season. With the Dolphins coming off a bye week, the Raiders’ defense will need to be sharp to allow Pierce to get a third straight win to start his tenure.
Favorable matchup: Josh Jacobs’ renaissance vs. Dolphins’ rush defense
Pierce and interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree made one of their first orders of business getting Jacobs going and returning him to being the “heart and soul” of the team like he was last year. Mission accomplished. The All-Pro running back is coming off his two best games of the season on the ground, having logged a combined 53 carries for 214 yards and two touchdowns in a pair of wins over the Giants and Jets. There’s no reason Jacobs’ positive momentum should slow against the Dolphins. Rush defense is Miami’s biggest weakness, as it rates 23rd in the league in the category by the DVOA ratings. Las Vegas’ best chance in the game probably lies in slowing down the tempo, holding their own in the trenches and letting Jacobs use his vision and power to find and fight through openings. It’s surely how the Raiders would like to play, but they need their defense to hold up their end of bargain to make it possible. Miami’s rush-defense deficiency hasn’t hurt them too badly this season because it’s built big enough leads to where opponents don’t have the time to take the deliberate strategy and need to score quickly to get back into games.
Problematic matchup: Dolphins’ receivers vs. Raiders’ banged-up cornerback crew
The Raiders appear to have only two fully healthy cornerbacks on their roster. They are Tyler Hall, who didn’t make the initial roster out of training camp, and Jack Jones, who joined the team less than a week ago off waivers from the New England Patriots. That’s a big problem against what might be the most electric duo of wide receivers in the league in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is regarded as the Dolphins’ primary Most Valuable Player award contender but there’s a sense around the league that his weapons — especially the longtime Raider nemesis/former Chief great Hill — are the biggest reason for his success. A pair of Las Vegas starting cornerbacks, Marcus Peters (knee) and Nate Hobbs (ankle), will likely play through their injuries but it’s hard to expect them to be at 100% coming off a week where they were limited in practice. The versatile Amik Robertson, the Raiders’ most-used corner in the previous two weeks before he got hurt against the Jets, was in the NFL’s concussion protocol but cleared in time for kickoff. Hall has been an underrated contributor and could be useful alongside rookie Jakorian Bennett, but it’s uncertain how much Jones can play as he familiarizes himself with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s scheme.
Gamebreaker: Quarterback Aidan O’Connell
The Raiders’ rookie quarterback has played well in both games since being named the starter but hasn’t been asked to do much with Jacobs leading the offense. That almost certainly changes this week, even if everything goes perfectly and the Raiders can hang with the Dolphins while primarily leaning on Jacobs. Miami is averaging a league-leading 31.7 points per game, and it’s impractical to think an improved but still mediocre Las Vegas defense can do what no other team has done and turn this into a complete low-scoring crawl. The Raiders are going to need their share of big plays, which means they’re going to need more explosiveness out of the passing game. O’Connell has shown glimpses of that ability, notably on a 50-yard bullet to fellow rookie Tre Tucker against the Giants and a more finesse over-the-top play-action connection to Davante Adams for 42 yards against the Jets. The zone-busting completion to Adams made for the star receiver’s longest gain of the year and got him going in a game where he finished with six receptions for 86 yards. Adams still isn’t hitting the statistical production he prefers, but he’s been O’Connell’s biggest supporter and believes the quarterback can eventually lead him there.
THEY SAID IT
“We’re getting our track shoes on. That’s the kind of game it’s going to be — explosive.”
-Pierce projecting the game and expecting a change from the pair of “slugfests” the Raiders were in to start his time as interim coach
“I still got some fire behind me. I kind of feel like I’ve got something to prove without going out of my way trying to prove it. I just want to show everybody I’m a good player and not somebody you can just shoo away.”
-Jones on the disappointment he felt after getting released by the Patriots in the middle of his second season and the motivation that came out of it
“Christian Wilkins is one of my best friends. He was in my wedding, so I’m probably going to have to hide my towel because I’m sure he’s going to be trying to grab it.”
-Slot receiver Hunter Renfrow laughing about squaring off against his former Clemson teammate and current Dolphins defensive tackle
“I was just making sure I didn’t have anything on my face, and (O’Connell) walks by saying I don’t look good in the mirror. Stuff like that is where you take the next steps in your friendship to allow you have a better connection on the field. That’s how it was with me and Aaron (Rodgers)…That stuff is critical, and you don’t understand how important it is, getting to know people more and getting more comfortable around your teammates.”
-Adams on being encouraged as he starts to see O’Connell coming out of his shell, even if it’s at the receiver’s expense with some jokes
Big Number: 84%
That’s the snap share of Michael Mayer over the last month, the most among all rookie tight ends in the NFL according to FTN. The second-round pick out of Notre Dame caught his first career touchdown against the Jets, a 19-yard jump ball along the sideline in the end zone, and has supplanted veteran Austin Hooper as the Raiders’ primary tight end. The workload is a testament to how far Mayer’s blocking has progressed. The Raiders always knew he could cut it as a receiver but didn’t feel comfortable with his blocking to start the year, but he’s worked diligently to improve in the area. Not having to take him off the field in certain situations should make Mayer a bigger factor in the pass game moving forward. Many analysts rated Mayer as the top tight end going into last year’s draft but two ended up going before him — local Faith Lutheran High product Dalton Kincaid to the Bills and Sam LaPorta to the Lions. Kincaid’s and LaPorta’s statistics are a lot higher than Mayer’s currently, but expect the gap to be cut into over the second half of the season.
Best Bet (7-3): Jaylen Waddle under 23.5 yards longest reception
The Raiders have quietly been one of the NFL’s better teams at limiting deep passing — ranking 11th in the category by DVOA. Graham figures to go all out this week to ensure his unit isn’t beaten over the top by Tagovailoa and his top two targets. Hill has shown an ability to beat such coverages anyway and is terrifying to bet against, so it’s better to attack Waddle with a wager on the Raiders to not get beat down the field. Waddle’s average depth of target is also .5 yards fewer than Hill’s and there’s no reason why the Dolphins shouldn’t be content to get him the ball repeatedly in the short to intermediate ranges. The Raiders likely won’t mind giving those completions up as their strategy will be to bear down once the field gets shorter in and near the red zone. Waddle has a reputation as a big-play receiver, and it’s merited but he’s not on the same level as Hill. He’s only gone over this number in three games this season.