Scooter & Hum: Day 1,346, Quasi-Quarantine: Dolphins-Raiders Game 10 Review

In what had to be considered a disappointing performance coming off a bye week, the Dolphins relied heavily on its defense to earn a crucial home victory against a game Vegas squad. The Raiders had consistently strong field position -- starting two drives inside Miami's 35-yard line and a fourth at midfield -- but the 'Fins defense made up for the offensive struggles with presnap penalties and turnovers.

On to the that-was-harder-than-it-needed-to-be recap ...

Offense

Despite racking up 422 total yards, Miami misfired for much of the game. The 'Fins converted just three of 11 third-down attempts, fell way short on an ugly fourth-down try in the red zone, and scored a touchdown on one of two red-zone visits. The Dolphins were mostly stymied on the ground, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry and failing to break 100 yards (99) rushing.
For Tua Tagovailoa, the numbers looked better than the actual performance. He hit 28 of 39 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns, but he fumbled, threw an interception, and was sacked once. He ran twice for six yards and got away with a handful of risky throws. Tua has a ton of confidence in his first read, but throwing without fully diagnosing the play is leading to some dangerous moments.
The running back corps welcomed back electric De'Von Achane -- for three plays. The rookie left after a single carry and a single catch for a total of five yards, yielding the stage to Raheem Mostert. In 55 snaps, Mostert ran it 22 times for 86 yards and caught one of two targets for seven yards. He was at his best late in the game, breaking tackles and showcasing a lethal stiffarm, though early whistles blowing plays dead limited some of his gains. Salvon Ahmed got 20 snaps, carrying three times for six yards and snaring three passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. Alec Ingold saw a lot of action at fullback (34 snaps), reeling in three of four targets for 16 yards. McDaniel said the team was just being careful with Achane, but his health bears watching down the stretch. The decision to make Jeff Wilson inactive is another indication that the team is struggling to find a role for him in his return from injury.
As usual, Tyreek Hill led the receivers, hauling in 10 of 11 targets for 146 yards and a score, with a long of 38, in 41 snaps. He had to leave briefly with a hand injury, but returned to continue sparking the offense on his way to a 91.7 Pro Football Focus grade. Notably, he made some difficult catches on high passes and in traffic, shaking off the drops that have hurt his game a bit recently. Jaylen Waddle led in snaps with 58, but was out of rhythm with Tua on a number of occasions, catching half of his eight targets for 55 yards. Cedrick Wilson was targeted four times in his 41 snaps, grabbing three for 23 yards. River Cracraft's first game back was quiet, as he was not targeted in his 21 snaps and missed a key block on a fourth-down play. Robbie Chosen got five snaps after being cut during the week, and he contributed two receptions for 39 yards, with a long of 30 just before the half. Braxton Berrios and Chase Claypool were inactive for this one, with Wilson handling punt-return duties.
At tight end, the biggest story was Durham Smythe being inactive, and his absence was felt in a big way. Julian Hill got the bulk of the action in Smythe's stead, getting 47 snaps but catching only a 10-yard pass that he subsquently fumbled, leading to Las Vegas points. Tyler Kroft was not targeted in his 21 snaps.
With Robert Hunt out, Miami turned to Liam Eichenberg to switch from center to left guard to right guard. The line played all 70 snaps together, with center Connor Williams receiving a 78.5 PFF grade and right tackle Austin Jackson earning a 75.8 mark from PFF (both Williams and Jackson were whistled for false starts). Lester Cotton got an unsportsmanlike conduct flag and had a 48.5 pass-blocking grade at left guard. Left tackle Terron Armstead did not have one of his better games, being called for holding, giving up a sack, and being graded at 68.6 in pass blocking by PFF.

Defense

The 'Fins pitched another second-half shutout, limiting the visitors to just 12 first downs and 296 total yards. Miami stopped the Raiders on 10 of 14 third downs and both fourth-down attempts, and held them without a touchdown on their lone red-zone trip. The Dolphins stymied the Las Vegas rushing game to the tune of 36 yards and a 2.3 yards-per-carry average, and the home team used two sacks and three interceptions to offset Vegas's consistently good field position.
Christian Wilkins registered three tackles, a stop for a loss, and two quarterback hits -- including one that led to a pick -- in his 58 snaps. Zach Sieler added a pair of tackles and a pass breakup in his 54 snaps.
In 21 snaps on the interior, Raekwon Davis had a solo stop and a quarterback hit, but he got consistent pressure in this game. Da'Shawn Hand did not record a statistic in his three reserve snaps.
At outside linebacker, Jaelan Phillips had a monster game in his 54 snaps, earning a 78.2 PFF grade after racking up six tackles, five solos, two sacks, two stops for losses, one pass breakup, three quarterback hits, and an interception. For good measure, he also came reasonably close to blocking a punt. His partner in crime, Bradley Chubb, added five tackles and three solos in 52 snaps. Andrew Van Ginkel saw action at both outside and inside 'backer, tallying five tackles, three solos, and two pass breakups in 42 snaps to pick up a 77.4 PFF grade.
Jerome Baker played every snap at inside linebacker, totaling seven tackles and five solos for a sterling 83.5 rating by PFF. David Long struggled in the blitz game, but made four tackles and two solos in only 28 snaps. Duke Riley played a single snap in reserve.
This game was dominated by Jalen Ramsey, who had a pair of interceptions to go with a solo tackle and two pass breakups for a stellar 90.3 PFF grade. Xavien Howard was busy, collecting seven tackles, five solos, a stop for a loss, a pass breakup, and a pass interference penalty. Both "X" and Howard played all 61 snaps, with Kader Kohou getting 45 snaps in the slot and recording three solos, a stop for a loss, and a pass breakup. Nik Needham came on for a single play in reserve, and Eli Apple was inactive.
Both Jevon Holland and DeShon Elliott played all 61 snaps at safety, with Holland picking up five tackles, four solos, and a stop for a loss. Elliott had a single solo stop and was ~~interfered with~~ beaten on a long score in what was a quiet day. Holland -- who has not made an impact play in quite a while -- had a fumble return touchdown overturned on replay early in the game.

Special teams

Jason Sanders missed a key 50-yarder, but connected from 41 and 51 yards and made both extra points.
Jake Bailey averaged 47.7 yards on three punts, overcoming a poor punt early on to place two inside the 20-yard line, with a long of 66 at a clutch moment.
Wilson returned three punts for 30 yards, with a long of 14, but neither team returned a kickoff.
Riley, Justin Bethel, and Elijah Campbell led defensive players on special teams with 21 snaps each, and Cameron Goode (19) and Brandon Jones (18) had heavy workloads in the kicking game as well. On the plus side, Riley made a pivotal tackle on a punt return, pinning the Raiders deep at a pivotal moment. On the downside, both Bethel and Campbell were flagged for illegal blindside blocks on returns.
With Smythe out, Ahmed left offensive players with a dozen snaps in the third phase, while Julian Hill and Wilson had 10 each.

Momentum plays

Getting the ball first, the Raiders got off to a quick start with a 17-yard pass to Mike Mayer, but a holding call got the visitors off schedule. A third-down play was initially ruled a Mayer fumble -- knocked loose by Van Ginkel -- that was scooped up by Holland and returned 39 yards for a touchdown. However, the call was reversed on replay, forcing a punt by former NC State player A.J. Cole, the league's best punter. A 14-yard return by Wilson was brought back on an illegal-block flag on Campbell.
Three plays later, Tua appeared to have scrambled for a first down, but another replay reverse determined that he had fumbled the ball to Las Vegas.
Taking over at Miami's 31-yard line, the Raiders converted a 3rd & 7 on a 12-yard catch and run by Mayer that saw him run over Howard. A Mayer offensive pass interference on the next play hurt the Vegas drive again, and strong tackles by "X" and Kohou forced a 34-yard field goal, giving the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
After an initial first down, Tua was sacked on 3rd & 11, but a defensive holding flag gave the Dolphins new life. An 18-yard strike to Hill was followed two plays later by a great grab on a slant by Hill, who eluded a tackler and raced 38 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 advantage.
Las Vegas quickly picked up two first downs on its next possession, then hit paydirt when Davante Adams literally stiffarmed Elliott to the ground without a call while the ball was in the air and waltzed into the end zone for a 46-yard score, pushing the Raiders ahead again, 10-7.
A strong 10-yard run by Mostert kickstarted the ensuing drive for the 'Fins, then Hill converted a 3rd & 7 when he reeled in a pass in a crowd for defenders, danced away from two would-be tacklers, and picked up 21 yards. Short passes and runs were combined with a facemask penalty on Vegas to extend the Miami drive, setting up a 4th & 1 opportunity from Vegas's 3-yard line. The Dolphins got a little too cute here, hitting Hill with a quick screen, but Cracraft couldn't make a block and Hill was dumped for a four-yard loss, giving the Raiders possession.
Chubb helped force a three-and-out with strong third-down pressure, but Cole flipped the field with a 53-yard net punt. Tua found Waddle three times in four plays, covering 36 yards and energizing the team and the crowd. Facing a 3rd & 10 from the Vegas 11-yard line, Tua found Ahmed on a beautiful angle route out of the backfield, and the running back picked up a nice block from Williams to go into the end zone untouched for a 14-10 lead.
Miami responded defensively with another three-and-out, with Cole uncorking a 61-yarder that was almost blocked. However, the possession was short, as a 10-yard Mostert run was immediately followed by a 10-yard catch that Julian Hill promptly fumbled directly to the Raiders at the Dolphins' 32-yard line.
The 'Fins got another three-and-out after Sieler batted a pass at the line and Kohou locked up Adams on a third-down play. Las Vegas had to settle for a 47-yard field goal to trim the margin to 14-13.
Surprisingly, Miami came out firing with five seconds remaining in the half, and Tua found Chosen for 30 yards along the sideline, but the clock ran out as the wideout was stepping out of bounds.
The halftime talk did not lead to offensive improvement, as Tua and Waddle miscommunicated on a deep route, leading to an easy interception on the first play of the second half. The defense answered the bell again, with Wilkins and Baker stopping the Raiders on a 3rd & 1 run to force yet another three-and-out.
Two plays into the next possession, Tua found Hill along the sideline for 31 yards off of play-action, then found Hill for 10 more over the middle. Under pressure from Maxx Crosby, the signal-caller couldn't find Wilson on 3rd & 7, then Sanders missed from 50 as his field goal barely drifted left to keep the score at 14-13.
This time, the 'Fins defense only needed a single play to thwart the visitors, as late pressure from Chubb and Wilkins led to a throw that was forced in the direction of Jalen Ramsey, who showed his closing speed to make a diving interception and set up the offense at the 47-yard line.
On a 3rd & 2 play, Tua drilled a 19-yarder to Waddle to keep the drive alive. However, back-to-back incompletions to Waddle -- one of which should have been intercepted -- led to another Sanders field-goal attempt, this one being good from 41 to push the lead to 17-13.
The Dolphins fashioned another three-and-out defensively, with Ramsey providing great coverage on Adams on a deep flea-flicker attempt on 3rd & 1. On the second play after taking over, Tua found Hill for 25 yards, then Wilson made a phenomenal catch on a 12-yard gain. A 2nd & 1 turned into a 4th & 1 after two more Tua incompletions, but coach Mike McDaniel surprisingly elected for a field goal. Sanders paid off the decision, drilling a 51-yarder to make it 20-13 with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Las Vegas managed an initial first down, but a Chubb pressure led to a Phillips sack on 3rd & 3 to end the possession. Another special-teams penalty -- this time on Bethel for an illegal block -- pinned Miami at the 10-yard line after a 53-yard punt.
After a three-and-out that featured another dangerous Tua throw and a near fumble by Ahmed, the Raiders took over still down just a touchdown. Vegas got an initial first down, but Kohou and Holland combined to thwart an end-around to the tune of a seven-yard loss. The visitors got 13 yards on a 3rd & 16 pass to former Wolfpacker Jakobi Meyers, but the 4th & 3 pass into the end zone fell incomplete, with Ramsey being closest to the ball.
A costly Armstead hold sidetracked the Miami drive and forced a three-and-out as a potential facemask on Mostert went uncalled. Perhaps inspired by Cole, Bailey uncorked a massive 66-yard punt that was inexplicably fielded on the 1-yard line, allowing Riley and Bethel to combine on a tackle that pinned the Raiders on their own 13-yard line.
The struggle for the officials continued when the entire crew missed a clear backwards pass on Vegas's first play from scrimmage, a brutal error that could've had very real game consequences. Compounding the error, Meyers burned Howard -- who was also called for interference on the play -- for 24 yards on the next play, with Phillips hustling down the sideline to push him out of bounds. Two plays later, Hunter Renfrow took a short catch, hurdled Howard, escaped Baker, Kohou, and Elliott, and went 31 yards before Wilkins finally tracked him down from his defensive line position. A Phillips sack was followed by a Van Ginkel near-interception two plays later, setting up a crucial 4th & 6. More Phillips pressure led to Wilkins grabbing the quarterback, but instead of being ruled in the grasp, he was allowed to continue the play, throwing an interception straight to Phillips.
Four straight Mostert runs covered 17 yards, though he was whistled down twice when his progress was not stopped. A dangerous third-down throw by Tua and a false start while trying to get the Raiders to jump on 4th & 5 set up a strong Bailey punt to the Vegas 7-yard line.
After a second-down play that saw Van Ginkel held without a call, Meyers converted 3rd & 4 with a five-yard catch. The Raiders got a 19-yarder on the next play, then Adams converted a 3rd & 5 by beating Howard for 20 yards, moving the visitors into Miami territory. Following an incompletion, a lack of pressure allowed a deep ball into the end zone, but Ramsey climbed the ladder to make an incredible interception and save the game for the 'Fins.
A Tua kneeldown mercifully ended a contest that seemed unnecessarily stressful for Miami.