Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Week 9 matchup at the Miami Dolphins in a Sunday Night game. The Raiders stay alive in the playoff hunt as they hang on to beat the 'Phins 27-24.
In a game that was filled with penalties and a near crazy ending, the Raiders endured and walk out of here with a big win. Okay, a win against the Dolphins is not impressive to some football analysts. But, the Raiders' backs were against the wall after the beatdown they received in Buffalo. They needed to string together some wins from here on out and what better way to do it against a team they haven't beaten in like forever. The Dolphins have had the Raiders' number, especially when the matchup is in Miami. And this team ended that jinx and the Raiders finally "squished the fish."
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Marshawn Lynch, 14 carries, 57 yards, 2 TDs. Whether this game signifies the return of Beast Mode remains to be seen. But there's no question, he was missed last week in Buffalo. If this game tells us something, this is how the Raiders should've used Lynch. Here's the disparity of carries between Lynch, Richard, and Washington: Lynch as mentioned had 14 carries. D-Wash had 4 carries. Richard has 5 carries. They needed to let Lynch loose and give as many carries as possible. Lynch got off to a slow start, but Lynch picked it up in the 2nd half. Credit the O-line as well for picking up on their run blocking. They opened up holes for Lynch and he ripped open a 22 yard TD and plowed his way for a goal line TD to give the Raiders an 11 point lead. Many had doubts about Lynch these last few weeks, but this a great way for him to shut those critics up and remind everybody that Beast Mode is alive and well.
Jared Cook, 8 receptions, 126 yards. 3rd down and long, who does Carr go to? He went to Jared. I've lost count how many times Cook bailed out the Raiders offense with critical catches on 3rd down tonight, but they certainly needed that from him to prevent stalled drives. In the first quarter, Carr threw to him three times and he caught all three passes. Two of them came from 3rd down and long to keep the drive alive on the Raiders' first possession of the game. Although, he was responsible for some ticky-tacky back-to-back penalties in the first half, that doesn't change the fact that this was one of his best games as a Raiders, receiving-wise. The Dolphins had no answer for Cook tonight.
Gabe Jackson/O-line. The O-line picked up the run blocking in the 2nd half. But, the one guy who was responsible for that was Gabe Jackson. Big Gabe ran all over the field and executed some excellent guard pulls to free up holes for the running backs. He opened up a solid gain from DeAndre Washington in the first half and he was a key cog in Lynch's 22 yard TD run.
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Penalties. Okay, there were a lot of penalties that were bogus on both teams. Unnecessary roughness calls on Lee Smith and Karl Joseph were some of the most ridiculous calls I've seen. The only fortunate part is that the Dolphins committed one more penalty for two more yards than the Raiders. The Raiders had 10 penalties for 105 yards while the 'Phins committed 11 penalties for 107 yards.
Critical dropped passes. Passing on 3rd down in the 4th quarter is always risky because there's chances that a receiver will drop a pass and allow too much time for the opposing team to make a comeback. The Raiders still had a surmountable lead for the Dolphins to comeback. Roberts dropped a pass on 3rd down, which wouldn't matter because of a penalty. Crabtree had a pass that bounced off his chest. Coop still has shaken off the dropsies yet. I'm watching there and thinking, "they're just begging for the Dolphins to knock on the door." This is one area that the Raiders need to improve on: catching the ball in close out time if they have the lead.
MVP
There'd be a lot of stalled drives if Cook didn't have this kind of game tonight. He was critical in keeping drives alive for the Raider offense. Carr needed to go to someone on 3rd and long situations. He went to Jared.
Conclusion
Well, the AFC West race is beginning to heat up down the stretch. The Chiefs lost earlier today against the Cowboys. Broncos got thumped by the Eagles. Chargers had the bye week, but the Raiders' win tonight puts them in 2nd place. This is a golden opportunity for Oakland as Kansas City has dropped three of its last four games. And the Broncos are reeling down the stretch as poor quarterback play is catching up to them. With this win heading into the bye, they have to keep the momentum going. Hopefully, they use this bye week to figure out what could make this team click for a strong finish. The game against the defending champion Patriots in Mexico City after the bye week is going to be a strong barometer game. The defense needs to bring their A-game and rattle the living daylights out of Tom Brady. I'll see you guys in two weeks for that game.
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