Extra points: 10 more thoughts on Dolphins’ loss in Vegas, questionable decision in OT
The Miami Dolphins’ 31-28, overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday was filled with pivot plays. They committed one of the strangest safeties in NFL history, did virtually nothing on offense for a full half and eventually started stringing together long passes in the second, and lost they made one field goal in overtime and the Raiders made two.
Here are 10 more thoughts from the Dolphins’ gut-wrenching loss in Las Vegas.
1. The Dolphins should have gone for the win. It’s obvious in hindsight. It would have been the right call in the moment. Just look at the win probability.
After it picked up 1 yard on third-and-3 from the Raiders’ 33-yard line, Miami had a 79.4 percent chance to win, according to ESPN. After kicker Jason Sanders made his game-tying 50-yard field goal, the Raiders had a 52.7 percent chance to win and they did.
The Dolphins did have a chance to win — the win probability actually swung back in their favor when they quickly forced Las Vegas into a second-and-15 — but the Raiders only needed one big play to swing the game back in their favor.
2. Miami’s offense was uniquely inefficient for three quarters. Jacoby Brissett dropped back 57 times. He attempted 49 passes and completed 32.
And he had all of 210 yards. That’s 4.3 yards per attempt and less than 10 yards per completion. He didn’t attempt a deep pass until the second half. He was 10 of 15 for 66 yards in the first half and 15 of 23 for 96 at the end of the third quarter. The quarterback finally started to take some shots in the fourth quarter and overtime, and it turned out some good results, only it was too late to make up for three quarters of inept offense.
Brissett didn’t take a single deep shot in the first half. In the second, he took 11, including seven in the fourth quarter and overtime. In overtime, he connected on a pair of deep passes — including a 27-yard completion to tight end Mike Gesicki on fourth-and-20 — to get Miami into field goal range.
Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley plays a lot of Cover 3, and Brissett said he was taking what the defense gave him for the most part. Once the Dolphins fell behind by multiple scores, he had to start taking shots and the offense benefited.
“I think we took a step forward, Brissett said. “I think we got better.”
3. The Dolphins’ defense will keep them in games while Tua Tagovailoa is out. Miami had 140 yards of total offense in the first two quarters, never had a drive go even 45 yards and still led 14-12 at halftime because of a defensive touchdown, a fourth-down stop in Raiders territory and another bend-but-don’t break throughout the first half.
Linebacker Elandon Roberts returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Dolphins a 25th straight game with a takeaway, then Miami stuffed Las Vegas on fourth-and-1 from its own 34-yard line to set up another touchdown for a 14-0 lead.
The Dolphins defense finally cracked on the Raiders’ last possession of the first half, when Las Vegas went 95 yards to cut the Dolphins’ lead to 14-12, then the Raiders scored another touchdown on their first possession of the second half to take the lead for good. At the time, Las Vegas had run 49 plays and Miami 33.
The Dolphins defense came through in the end, too. In the final five minutes of regulation, Miami forced the Raiders into back-to-back three-and-outs to give Brissett a chance to tie the game.
4. The Dolphins’ offense mostly did everything it could to lose. The Dolphins have now scored 45 points this season and 28 in nearly two full games with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. Last Sunday, Miami got shut out after Tagovailoa broke multiple ribs in the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills. This Sunday, the Dolphins scored 14 — seven on a defensive touchdown and seven after the defense set up Miami with a short field.
There’s plenty of blame to go around.
5. Blame the quarterback. Neither one has been good for the Dolphins, but Brissett was particularly inefficient Sunday.
Until the fourth quarter, he basically had one good drive: a two-minute drill just before halftime when he went 4 of 6 for 30 yards, had a big scramble on third-and-9 to pick up 10 and set up Miami for a last-second field goal. Sanders missed from 48 yards.
He worked better with his back against the wall, but comeback situations are different. He still needs to prove he can manage a game from start to finish while Tagovailoa is on injured reserve.
6. Blame the offensive line. The Dolphins used their third different starting offensive line combination in as many weeks and there were some good signs, but Miami’s inability to do pretty much anything for most of the game starts here.
The Dolphins only gave up two sacks, but Brissett got hit seven times and didn’t attempt any deep passes until the second half. The Raiders also were mostly rushing only four and dropping seven players back into coverage. It all led to a vanilla game plan for Miami.
7. Blame the coaching. There are no good play calls when you can’t block and can’t throw, but an unblocked screen from your own end zone isn’t a good call even when you can — and even if Brissett took the blame. He shouldn’t even be in a position where it’s an option to make that throw.
8. Jaelan Phillips makes his first career start. He made the most of it, too. The rookie linebacker logged six tackles and played a role in Miami’s defensive touchdown. On Roberts’ pick, Phillips moved occupied Raiders tackle Alex Leatherwood and moved him inside. It let safety Eric Rowe come through untouched to pressure Derek Carr and force the Las Vegas quarterback into an interception.
9. Waddle is clearly something. The rookie led the team with 13 targets and 12 catches. He also led the team in catches and yards last Sunday after he was second on the team in targets, catches and yards in Week 1. In this conservative offense, Waddle is Dolphins’ best receiver at getting open in tight spaces and their biggest threat to turn a short pass into a big play. In a more dynamic offense, he’d get to use his speed to stretch the field, too. Maybe it’ll happen at some point this year if the offensive line and quarterbacks improve.
10. The new-look offensive line showed some things. Jesse Davis works much better at left guard than he does at right tackle. The Dolphins ran better, picking up more than 4 yards per carry. The tackles are still a major question mark — Austin Jackson committed a slew of crushing penalties down the stretch and Liam Eichenberg, who took over at right tackle, gave up multiple sacks — but the line was unquestionably better than a week ago. Improvement had to start somewhere.
This story was originally published September 26, 2021 at 10:30 PM.
