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Oakland Raiders: First Quarter schedule breakdown and predictions

By Kevin Saito

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 17: Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after a two-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree #15 against the Dallas Cowboys during their NFL game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on December 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 17: Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after a two-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree #15 against the Dallas Cowboys during their NFL game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on December 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Oakland Raiders
ORCHARD PARK, NY – DECEMBER 17: Head Coach Adam Gase of the Miami Dolphins looks at the field during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills on December 17, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

@Miami Dolphins

There’s no other way to put it – last season, the Dolphins were an absolute hot mess. When Ryan Tannehill went down, Miami’s season effectively ended. There just seemed to be no cohesion or coordination within that team.

Without Tannehill, Miami had the league’s twenty-fifth ranked offense and were in the bottom half of the league in most every meaningful metric.

Their defense was better than their offense and kept them in a lot of games. It was mostly because of the defense that they were even in a position to win the six games they managed to scrape out last season.

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    • This year though, Tannehill is back, but he has one fewer weapon to work with after Miami saw one of the premier receivers in the league in Jarvis Landry take his talents from South Beach to Cleveland.

    With Kenny Stills, DeVante Parker, and the new-to-them Danny Amendola filling out the receivers room, Miami still has some playmakers. But, the challenge is going to be a running game led by the aging Frank Gore, and an offensive line that gave up 33 sacks last season taking enough pressure off Tannehill to utilize his receiving options.

    With Oakland’s defensive front looking vastly improved this year (at least, on paper), they could present a big challenge to Miami’s offensive group.

    If Bruce Irvin can prove to be the formidable pass rushing bookend to Khalil Mack this team has been missing, and if Justin Ellis, Maurice Hurst, P.J. Hall, and Treyvon Hester can get a solid push up the middle, collapsing the pocket, and shutting down running lanes, it could be a long day for Miami.

    Miami’s going to miss the presence of Ndamukong Suh on the interior of their defensive line in a big way. And that should allow for the offensive line, Marshawn Lynch, and Oakland’s ground game to have a big day.

    And if the running game comes out strong and dictates the pace to Miami, Carr and the passing game will see more chances open up for them.

    Miami’s offense will be a lot better than last year’s version, but the Raiders will be able to overwhelm this Dolphins team – particularly their defensive unit – with a brutal running attack, and an electric passing game.

    Raiders: 31 Dolphins: 17

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