Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Week 3 matchup vs. the Miami Dolphins where the Raiders lose to the Dolphins in the same old fashion 20-28. They play great for three quarters, but in the fourth, they gas out.
Well, anything else to say? Like the headline says, this has been the same old story since the start of the season. The first three quarters, the Raiders dominate. And then once the fourth quarter hits, the whole system just shuts off. Jon Gruden can emphasize on getting his players to play 60 minutes of football. But, that don't mean a thing when the team just let's up after 48 minutes. It is what it is and again, we're continue to talk about certain issues about the team as this keeps going.
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Jordy Nelson, 6 receptions, 173 yards, 1 TD. The lone bright spot of the offense. If there's anything, you don't which Raider receiver is gonna break out. Opening week, it was Jared Cook. Last week, it was Amari Cooper. This week, Jordy Nelson turned back the clock. I don't want to make excuses for the Dolphins though. They were without Reshad Jones, their best Safety today. Jordy took advantage of that and got two big receiving plays for 60+ yards. Like I said, he was owning rookie Minkah Fitzpatrick and the rest of Dolphins secondary throughout the game.
Run defense. Out of the categories here, this is where the defense dominated in the trenches. They held the Dolphins rushing game to just 41 yards. Frank Gore and Kenyan Drake rushed for 18 yards combined. That made the Dolphins offense one-dimensional and they were out of sorts to start.
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Pass defense. From a decent showing last week to an atrocious showing this week. The Dolphins' run game is entirely shut down, but the entire unit just continues to give up big plays after big plays. The big TD to Kenny Stills. The Dolphins ran a double "Philly special" during that game. A double reverse. Albert Wilson throws a 52 yard passing TD to Jakeem Grant. Albert Wilson taking it all the way for a 74 yard TD to seal the game. Just too many big plays and that kept Miami's offense afloat when it has been stagnant all game long.
MVP
Jordy turned back the clock with this performance. People were wondering whether or not he was a byproduct of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense. This game proved that he's not.
Conclusion
Yeah, it's just three games right? There's still a lot of football left to played for the Raiders to turn around. The harsh reality though, this team is just not good enough to put teams away even with vets who have perennial experience in winning. When you have been a fan of a team that has endured so many losing seasons, it's frustrating to not generate any optimism because you know they'll find new ways to lose. Next week, the Raiders play the Browns. And as much as I don't like to say it, the Browns look much better than the Raiders right now. Baker Mayfield has re-energized the offense. Their defense is underrated. It's going to be a tough challenge considering the way this team just continues to start fast, but they fail to finish. On top of that, they leave more to be desired. I'll see you guys next week for that game.
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