Oakland Raiders: Keys to beating the Miami Dolphins in week three matchup
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders head to South Beach to take on the Miami Dolphins – let’s take a look at a few keys to a Silver and Black win.
Before the season began, if you would have said the Oakland Raiders would be looking up at the Cleveland Browns in the standings, most probably would have laughed at you.
And yet — here we are.
Not that Cleveland didn’t stockpile a ton of talent – that is a nasty looking roster on paper – but, because their biggest weakness, and flaw in their organization is named Hue Jackson. Simply put, Jackson is not a very good football coach. 1-31 coming into the year with the Browns, and now, a sparkling 2-32-1.
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But hey, a win is a win – Cleveland got one, and the Raiders are still searching for one. Props to the Browns for making the Jets look like – well – the Jets again. Most of us forgot they were the Jets after that opening week thrashing of the Lions, so the reminder was helpful.
But, the fact remains – the Raiders are 0-for-2018 at this point. And while you hate to label a game as critical, or a “must win,” three weeks into a season, that’s pretty much what this is. Dropping into an 0-3 hole might be far too deep to dig themselves out of – not to mention people really will be burning Jon Gruden in effigy in Jack London Square.
The biggest questions right now are, are the Dolphins really as good at their 2-0 start seems to indicate? And are the Raiders really as bad as their 0-2 record would suggest?
The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. Let’s not forget, Miami’s two wins came against a Marcus Mariota-less Titans squad, and a Jets team that has some issues.
The Raiders, on the other hand, had plenty of chances and opportunities, and could feasibly be 2-0, had they cashed in on them, rather than choke them all away. At worst, they should be 1-1, but a missed extra point, and a series of boneheaded plays doomed them in a last second defeat in Denver – a game in which they had led for roughly 59:55.
The Raiders are doing some good things. They’re also doing some mind-numbingly stupid things, but they’re doing some good things, and just seem to need to tweak and tighten a few things here and there to get things turned around.
Indeed, if perhaps, a play or two, or maybe three went down differently – in both games, so far – and we’d be having a very different conversation right now.
But, the facts are the facts, the scoreboard doesn’t lie, and the Raiders currently sit at 0-2, and they need to make those small plays, pay attention to the tiniest details, and play with a sense of urgency. Miami is 2-0, but they have vulnerabilities. They’re not invincible, and it’s incumbent upon the Raiders to exploit those weaknesses.
With that in mind, and with this week three matchup being critical, let’s take a look at a few keys to a victory over the 2-0 Dolphins…