Oakland Raiders v. Miami Dolphins: Four Things That Must Happen
By Kevin Saito
Attack the Field
One of the chief complaints about the offense being run under first-year OC Todd Downing is that this it’s lacked punch. It’s lacked teeth. It’s lacked – well – much of anything.
You know you’re in bad shape when fans are desperately calling for the return of Bill Musgrave and his predictably flavorless vanilla offense. But, in comparison to what Downing is running out there week after week, Musgrave looks like a crazed, genius wizard.
The only point this season in which Downing has put in an aggressive, in your face, stop our superstars offense was against Kansas City. With a mix of deep shots, potent play action, and a balls-out, high octane game play, the Raiders stood toe to toe with the Chiefs and came out on top.
And then, Downing came out the following week with a game plan against Buffalo that had all the punch and pizazz of a wet fart.
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And that lack of offensive spark led to a 20-point beatdown at the hands of the Bills – a Bills team that then turned around and got spanked by the same Jets team the Raiders handled by 25 points back in week two.
If the Raiders hope to start salvaging their season and build a little momentum heading into the bye week, they’re going to need to come out with an aggressive gameplan that involves taking shots downfield and mixing in some play action passing.
With the season quite literally on the line, Oakland needs to come out with an up-tempo, aggressive, balls-out attack similar to the one they employed against the Chiefs. Downing needs to trust his playmakers to do what they’re being paid to do – make plays.
Downing – and by extension, Derek Carr – need to be aggressive. They need to really attack the field and this Dolphins offense. If they don’t come out with a purpose, play like their hair is on fire, and let the Dolphins hang around, this team could find themselves in real trouble.