Week 3: RAIDERS @ Miami Dolphins 1st Half Open Thread

Welcome in to the first half open thread of the Raiders' Week 3 matchup at the Miami Dolphins. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the game.

Q2

OAK 10 MIA 7

Not a bad first half. Arguably the MVP candidate right now, Jordy Nelson. 4 receptions for 151 yards and a TD. Certainly he's still got gas left in the tank. Like I said last game, the Raiders start off with really great drives, but there's still a lot more to grasp. I really didn't like the 4th down play call to Keith Smith. No question, Lynch should've carried that ball with Keith Smith leading the way. They tried to play "cute" for a little deception and they got stuffed. The last scoring drive, again, more to grasp and they had to settle for a Nugent field goal. At least the Raiders don't have it as bad as the Dolphins. Outside of that deep pass to Kenny Stills from Ryan Tannehill, their offense hasn't been a factor. The running game of Kenyan Drake and Frank Gore was a non-factor during that half. That is a win for the defense to make the Dolphins one dimensional. It also doesn't help that penalties are derailing anything positive that Miami's generating. The Raiders won the first half. It's just a matter of keeping that momentum going into the 2nd half. The last two games, it has been an achilles heel and they end up losing the games. That has got to change. Let's see in the 2nd half.

Q1

OAK 7 MIA 0

 

We would've been looking at a 14-0 lead had Gruden called that 1-yard play to Lynch instead of an FB Lead to Keith Smith. That was tough. But, Jordy Nelson's career has been revived this week. He starts off with a big gainer for 61 yards, caps it off with a TD. He burns the Dolphins again for a 66 yard catch and run. Minkah Fitzpatrick is a highly touted rookie and Nelson is just taking him to school. Other than that, there hasn't been much generated from the offense due to penalties and a bad INT from Carr. Both Coop and Carr were at fault for that one as Coop gave up on the play after he had a step behind the defenders. Luckily, the Dolphins have a lot of trouble on offense. They just can't get anything going, putting a lot of pressure on their defense that has gave a lot of yardage so far.