Right out of the gate, we have to start with Jordy Nelson on the first series. It’s not too bad if a receiver gets open. It happens. But look how quickly he gets open. And I mean WIDE open.
The ball has barely been snapped. On the far right, you see Derek Carr is still fading back. Nelson, circled, is running a simple slant. The black arrow shows his route. Look how open he is! The play has just started and he’s in full stride already. It was obviously a breakdown. It didn’t help that Minkah Fitpatrick (Off screen on the far left at this point) comes in at a very bad angle. Nelson was off to the races. Gotta correct that stuff.
Now we see Nelson’s next big catch on the next series. Bobby McCain lies prone, and Nelson is off to the races yet again. Minkah trails the play near the Phins logo.
By showing you these two huge blown coverages, you might think I’m going to harp on the negatives. But I won’t Because some outstanding good came from these two plays above. In BOTH cases, our defenders raced back and tackled Nelson. On the first play, LB Jerome Baker caught him from behind. On the the 2nd play, Minkah got him.
The old Dolphins would have given up as soon as the WR burned past them. But not these Dolphins. They played the entire length of the field and stopped Nelson.
On the first one, the Raiders scored a minute later, so Baker’s tackle just delayed the inevitable.
But the second time, Minkah’s tackle saved 7 points. He never gave up, caught up to Nelson, and gave the Raiders 1st and goal instead of 7 points. As we will see, we stopped Oakland and held them without points there. THAT is why you never give up.
I bring this up for a comparison. On Albert Wilson’s TD catch yesterday, how many Raiders caught him from behind? (How many even came close?). On Jakeem Grant’s two TD catches, how many Raiders caught him? None. I was never one to note a player’s 40-yard time. In my view, all these guys are elite athletes. Is there really, truly a difference between 4.3 speed and 4.5? A few weeks ago, I would have said No Big Difference. But after seeing our speedy receivers burning through defenses this year? I’m singing a different tune. Speed kills. We got it. And–more importanly–Gase is using it. That’s the difference between scoring a TD or settling for a first-and-goal.
On to the next plays. After Minkah’s tackle, the Raiders faced a third and goal from the 9. Carr pitched a shuffle to the back (circled) who has a lead blocker in front of him to clear the path. In the red box, you see Kiko Alonso getting blocked by a giant Raider. This should have been a touchdown. It’s designed well and the path to the end zone is there. But here is where execution was more important than drawing up X’s and O’s.
Showing some grit, Kiko brushed aside his mammoth blocker just in time. I mean, look at the red box above. It looks like Kiko is gonna get buried. But he fought through the block and threw himself at the ball carrier just in time, who then had to dive toward the endzone but come up just short. On the next play on 4th and 1, they tried a rush by some unknown fullback. (Apparently Jon Gruden and Pete Carroll don’t know how good Marshawn Lynch is). Between Minkah’s hustle tackle and Kiko’s instinctive play, we held the Raiders. Zero points.
How about some luck? Or some head-scratching decisions? Call it what you will, but on the next series, Xavien Howard intercepted Carr. Look at this shot of Carr’s protection. This might be the best-protected pass in NFL history. No Dolphin is in sight. 3 Raiders are literally looking around for something to do. This looks like pre-game warmups. Surely this will be a long completion, right?
Uh, no. Carr had all the time and space in the world, but this is where he threw it:
Three different Dolphins are heading to the ball while Amari Cooper plays spectator. Howard (circled) grabs it. Obviously it was a busted play, but that doesn’t explain why Cooper didn’t even try. And Carr with all that time…deciding to throw it into triple coverage? We’ll take it. But, man. If I were a Raider fan, I’d be furious at someone.
How depleted was Miami? As was reported, offensive guard Jesse Davis had to fill in on defense. He he is, unable to stop Lynch’s touchdown dive. If only Gruden would have ignored Lynch again and called a fullback handoff again, LOL
Our offensive line did a poor job of run blocking all day. They grade out with an F in that department. As bad as it was, I’m starting to see Frank Gore separate himself from Kenyan Drake. And I’m a big Drake fan, so it takes a lot for me to say that. Gore deserves more playing time. He seems tougher and stronger and breaks tackles, where Drake is all about finesse. I just think that Gore is out-performing him.
Not only that, but Drake can be (not always, but can be) a liability in blocking. With the Raiders leading by 10, this is the play where Grant (circled) caught a quick shuffle and took it 18 yards. In the box, you see Kenyan Drake drilling a dude from behind. That could have been called an illegal block in the back. And depending on the ref’s angle, he could also be called for leading with the helmet. Either way, it is a clear and obvious penalty.
The way the refs were screwing us on penalty calls in the first half, I am shocked and amazed that no ref saw this. Drake would have really been in my doghouse if a ref had seen this blatant penalty.
And finally, let’s leave on a high note. I loved this mid-play high five. What did I say earlier about team speed?
Actually though, I saw a play last year that was similar. I forgot which game it was, but the refs called a penalty for taunting. There is plenty of time for celebrating–it’s legal now–but let’s get in the endzone first and not give the old men in striped shirts something to nitpick.
Okay Admin, don’t you owe Gesicki a little apology? I mean, he caught at least two passes.
He made a great catch on one ball, which I originally thought was an easy grab. It wasn’t upon watching it again. Otherwise, he seemed to play a good game.
AJ Derby got hurt and Gray is already on IR. The two rookie TEs both did what was expected of them, and didn’t let us down. I imagine they have to give Thomas Duarte a call now if Derby is gone for a while.
I think more importantly that in game they corrected the blown coverages on Nelson as he was a non-factor after. They looked confused as Jones was out but got it right soon after in the past this would have went on all game…so good news.
Three big takeaways from this game for me. First the run defense that was so good in the first two weeks wasn’t as strong. The raiders dominated time of possession due to being able to effectively run the ball on first down. Miami needs to work on this and with William Hayes gone for the year (by far our best d-end against the run) everyone needs to step up. Second the rush offense disappeared. I really thought drake would be the breakout player of the year but so far he has been disappointing. Third Adam Gases playcalling won that game. It’s almost impossible to win in the NFL when you lose the time of possession battle, can’t run, and get run on without a top 5 QB. Miami did this and in my opinion it’s because Gase straight up out smarted Gruden.
I think that, while I agree that Gase called a good game in the end, it still took him to be down by 2 scores (should have been down by 2 TDs before Gruden imploded) before he made the correct adjustments. In my view, the Raiders came out to stop Miami’s run attack from the start which is why the passing game was so successful. Gase still has trouble game planning from start to finish but seems to be making good progress. Still worried about 3rd and long defense.