Oakland Raiders: Keys to beating the Miami Dolphins in week three matchup
By Kevin Saito
Stop Miami’s Run Game
Through two games, Miami is averaging almost 130 yards on the ground. But, the question is whether or not that is just a mirage. Whether it’s nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
Las Vegas Raiders
This isn’t to say that Miami doesn’t have some talented backs. Kenyan Drake and Frank Gore are becoming a pretty solid one-two punch. You can’t take anything away from them. But, in their two games thus far, they haven’t exactly gone up against elite defensive fronts, either.
Against the Titans in the season opener, Miami powered out 120 rushing yards. However, it came against the league’s twenty-sixth ranked run defense. Tennessee is giving up 134 yards a game, and a bloated 4.9 yards per carry – among the worst in the league.
They racked up 135 yards against a Jets defense that is ranked in the middle of the pack, checking in with the sixteenth-ranked run defense. But, it’s also a unit that was absolutely gashed by a Lions unit that ranks near the bottom of the league in rushing yards for 169 yards in the season opener.
So, the question remains – how good is Miami’s run game, really?
It’s good enough that the Raiders are going to have to tighten down their run defense in a hurry. As of now, they’re giving up a horrendous 5.7 yards per rush – worst in the league. They’ve been torched by the Rams for 140 yards, and gave up another 168 yards to the Broncos. As of right now, the Raiders are sitting right near the bottom of the league – thirty-first – in run defense.
It’s tough without their best run defender, with Justin Ellis going on IR. But, Gruden made it a point to shore up the interior of that line and address the inadequacies by drafting Maurice Hurst, and P.J. Hall, and adding veteran players around them – and also having added Clinton McDonald and Johnathan Hankins in the wake of the injuries to Ellis and Hall.
This unit has got to step up and shut down Miami’s run game. They need to step up and prevent Drake from getting off early. If they can’t stop the run, they’re going to be in for a very long afternoon.