One thing you can say about the 2021 Raiders is they sure aren’t boring. For all three games this season they have started slow, had to come from behind and took it down to the wire. And for the second time this season, they had to win it in overtime.
After starting the game down 14-0, the Raiders went on a 25-0 run. But the Dolphins were able to tie it up at the end and send it to OT. This game even used the entire first overtime period with three more lead changes before the Raiders could put it away.
The 70 minutes of playing time led to a lot of heroes and a few goats. Making for a pretty long list of Ballers & Busters this week. So, let’s get started.
Ballers
DT Johnathan Hankins, DT Solomon Thomas, DT Darius Philon, DT Quinton Jefferson, DE Maxx Crosby, DE Yannick Ngakoue, DE Carl Nassib
The Raiders may have begun this game down 14-0, but it was no fault of the defense. The first TD was a pick-six and the second one came on a drive that started at the Las Vegas 34-yard-line after a turnover on downs. So, don’t let that early deficit fool you, the Raiders defensive line doing work in this game.
The first Dolphins’ possession ended with a Maxx Crosby QB hit followed by Darius Philon stopping Jacoby Brissett for two yards on a scramble to force a punt.
Once those two early gift-wrapped touchdowns, the defense stiffened up for two quarters. The first drive of the second quarter ended with Yannick Ngakoue getting pressure on Brissett to blow up a screen play on third and nine.
The other drive featured a shared sack between Solomon Thomas and Carl Nassib and ended with another Ngakoue pressure and a tackle short of the sticks to force a 48-yard field goal attempt that was no good off the upright.
The first possession of the third quarter ended with a three-and-out, starting with a Nassib run stuff and ending with Solomon Thomas making a forced fumble on third down. The Dolphins recovered and punted it away.
The next drive ended with a Hankins run stuff followed by a pass breakup on third down. But even if the pass had been complete, Thomas was held, so it would have come back anyway. The Raiders declined the penalty.
The next drive would go for a field goal but ended with Crosby getting pressure leading to a Quinton Jefferson sack. The next drive ended with a turnover on downs. The final three plays were a Ngakoue run stop, Hankins and Nassib teaming up for a run stuff for no gain on third and one, and Philon and Hankins teaming up for another run stuff for no gain on fourth and one.
The final drive of regulation had the Dolphins in first and goal at the one thanks to a Trayvon Mullen pass interference in the end zone. And had this not been for the game, the Dolphins would have been shut out of the end zone. Three straight plays were stopped in part by this Dline including Hankins, Philon, and Crosby all making key plays. But on fourth and goal, the Dolphins would finally breakthrough. Then they took to the air to pick up the two-point conversion to tie it.
The only Dolphins drive of the overtime period ended with Crosby and Thomas teaming up to make the stop on a toss play and the Dolphins tied it back up with a field goal, allowing the Raiders to drive for the game-winning score.
QB Derek Carr, WR Henry Ruggs III, WR Bryan Edwards, WR Hunter Renfrow
The first big completion of the day went for 24 yards to Hunter Renfrow. A few plays later on the same drive Edwards made a short catch and weaved through traffic to pick up 23 yards. Unfortunately, that drive ended with Carr making one of his biggest mistakes of the season. Foster Moreau stopped his route in the zone and Carr threw it ahead of him and right into the waiting arms of linebacker Elandon Roberts who returned it for the touchdown.
Renfrow would make another big grab on the next drive. Carr was under pressure and threw what looked like a dangerous high-arching pass, but somehow Renfrow had gotten his man turned around and ran under the pass, sliding on his knees to make the catch. That drive stalled due to an errant snap leading to an intentional grounding penalty.
With the start of the second quarter, the Raiders’ offense seemed to shake off the early struggles and finally get going. On third and 6, Ruggs got open along the left sideline and Carr threw his way and Ruggs made a brilliant leaping grab, tapping his toes inbounds for an 18-yard gain. It would lead to a field goal which was the first points on offense in the game.
The next Raiders drive featured Ruggs going up high over the top of All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard to make another incredible grab, this time for 23 yards. That put them in Miami territory. A few plays later, in third and three Carr found Ruggs on a cross and he took the pass and streaked up the left sideline for 21 yards to put the Raiders in first and goal. They punched it in for the touchdown two plays later.
To begin the third quarter, the Raiders were on the move again. To finish it off Renfrow put his man on a spin cycle with a wicked triple move to make the catch and finish it off for the score from 12 yards out.
The next drive, Carr threw a perfect pass to Darren Waller between defenders for a 23-yard gain to put the Raiders in the red zone. A connection with Kenyan Drake on third down for 16 yards would put the Raiders in first and goal at the one. They punched it in two plays later with Carr throwing for Alec Ingold on a Spider 2 Y Banana.
Perhaps Ruggs’s best catch — which is saying a lot — came in overtime when he made another catch along the sideline, this time with a defender nailing him as he made the catch. And yet he still managed to haul it in and tap his feet inbounds to make the grab for an 18-yard gain. Two plays later, Carr found Bryan Edwards for a 32-yard connection which set up a field goal.
The game-winning drive started with Carr finding Edwards with a dime of a pass and Edwards making a gorgeous over-the-shoulder grab for 34 yards. Edwards, Ruggs, and Renfrow had 89, 78, and 77 yards receiving respectively to lead the Raiders. Carr finished with 386 yards and two touchdowns to one interception.
RB Peyton Barber
The journeyman running back would put on his cape late in this game to help the Raiders seal the win. He started off a drive late in the third quarter with a 19-yard run. Two plays later he took a dump pass for 23 yards. He finished off that drive with a diving touchdown over the pile from one yard out.
His running was crucial in the overtime period. After the Dolphins tied things back up at 28-28, Barber broke off a 27-yard run to put the Raiders in field goal range at the 19-yard-line. On the next play, he ran for eight yards. And Daniel Carlson finally put the game away with a chip shot field goal.
Barber finished with a career-high 111 yards and a TD on 23 carries (4.8 ypc) and added three catches for 31 yards.
FB Alec Ingold
Barber wasn’t going at it alone. He had one of the best fullbacks in the business assisting in the effort. Ingold’s biggest play showcased his heads-up abilities and it may have saved the game for the Raiders.
The Raiders set up in first and goal from the four-yard-line, still looking for their first touchdown. Barber took the ball up the gut on second and goal from the one. The ball popped out of his arms on the tackle and Ingold caught in in the air and even picked up three yards on the play. The next play, he was rewarded with Spider 2 Y Banana. He caught the pass at the line and scored the touchdown.
On the final drive of the game, Ingold laid a key block on an eight-yard run all but cementing the win.
P AJ Cole
His first punt traveled 54 yards with just a six-yard return. His second punt was a moonshot that was downed at the two-yard line. A penalty put it at the one-yard line and on the first play, the Dolphins attempted a pass into the left flat at it was stopped for a safety to give the Raiders their first points of the game.
Cole launched a 67-yard punt late in the fourth quarter that would start the Dolphins’ drive at their own 18-yard-line after a 12-yard return. It gave him a 54-yard average with a 47.3-yard net on four punts, with two being downed inside the 20.
Honorable Mention
LB Denzel Perryman — Led the team with 14 tackles (10 solo)
CB Casey Hayward — Gave the Raiders their first points of the game on a safety.
WR Zay Jones — Made two nice plays on punts, one a tackle on a short return and downing a punt at the two. Also had a 15-yard catch.
Busters
OT Alex Leatherwood, LG John Simpson
For the third straight week to begin this season, Leatherwood finds himself among the Busters. This time as Top Buster, joined by John Simpson. Most failed Raiders drives had either Simpson or Leatherwood’s fingerprints all over it.
The first possession of the game ended with a three-and-out when on third and s, Simpson lost Christian Wilkinson to get Carr sacked. In the first play of the next drive, Leatherwood gave up a run stuff. On the first play of the drive after that Simpson gave up a run stuff. And we’re off!
A high snap from Andre James along with the intentional grounding penalty killed the Raiders’ next drive. But just to make sure, Leatherwood gave up a hit on Carr, causing a rushed pass that fell incomplete out of bounds. Leatherwood would start the very next drive by giving up another hit on Carr that again led to an incompletion. And he gave up a run stuff on the drive after that.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Leatherwood gave up another hit on Carr, this time luckily he got the pass away and completed it before getting walloped.
After Simpson seemed to get away with a holding on the Raiders’ TD drive in the third, he didn’t get away with it later in the third. A few plays later, Leatherwood gave up a run stuff.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the Raiders in need of running clock, Simpson gave up two run stuffs, one for a loss. And the Raiders went three-and-out. To his credit, on the Raiders’ final drive of overtime, Simpson laid the key block on a Barber 27-yard run. Leatherwood would give up one more run stuff, but the Raiders were already in field goal range to put the game away.
HC Jon Gruden
These slow starts can’t continue. At some point, the Raiders have to start fast. As it stands they are riding a nine-game streak of not scoring on the opening drive. In this game, they didn’t score on their first three drives. And found themselves down 14-0 by the time they took the field again for their fourth possession.
The third possession stalled at their own 34-yard-line. Gruden opted to go bold for it on fourth and one. He called a run up the middle (of course) and it was stopped for no gain, giving the Dolphins the ball already in scoring range. They did one better, though, scoring a touchdown in four plays.
This game could’ve been put away so many times. And the Raiders offense just kept dangling the game for the Dolphins to take. The first best chance they had to end the game in regulation came when they got the ball with 4:29 left in the fourth quarter. Two straight unglamorous runs up the middle yielded a net minus one yard, setting up third and 11. The Dolphins blitzed and no one was there to pick it up, so Carr was sacked. They took a grand total of 50 seconds off the clock and even left the Dolphins with a timeout.
The Dolphins would use every bit of the 3:22 they had and their timeout and drove down for the game-tying score to send it to overtime.
K Daniel Carlson
All these perfect games and long field goals aren’t worth much if you miss the easy ones. I say the Raiders’ first best chance to put the game away came late in the fourth quarter. But in reality, they wouldn’t have needed to put the game away on that possession had Carlson not missed an extra point to lead out the quarter.
With the score at 25-14, all the Dolphins needed to do was add a field goal — which they did — to make it a one-score game. From there they needed only to score a touchdown — which they did — and a two-point conversion — which they also did — to tie it up. Carlson makes that extra point and the end of that game has far less drama.
LB Divine Deablo
There was one other golden opportunity for the Raiders to seal this one. It came midway through the overtime period. The Raiders had already scored on their opening drive, forcing the Dolphins to answer with a score or lose.
They would find themselves in fourth and 20 in need of a big play. They don’t get it, it’s ball game. But they did get it. Brissett escaped the pocket and found Mike Gisecki for a 27-yard completion and it was Deablo who was beaten on the play.
Deablo had already given up a seven-yard reception on third and five on the Dolphins drive in the fourth to pull to within one score. Not great for the former safety to be giving up catches at the most crucial times.
TE Foster Moreau
Quite a rough game for Moreau. And that’s even if you say he was not at fault on the Carr pick-six. Carr copped to it and I believe him because it appeared as if Moreau was making the right call to stop his route against the zone. But, as I said, even without that, Moreau had a rough one.
The fourth and one in which Gruden elected to go for it, was a fourth and one because on third and one Moreau gave up a run stuff for no gain. That ended that drive. The next drive ended with Moreau’s only catch. It went for eight yards on third and 28. Not his fault, really, but if that’s your only stat on offense, that ain’t great.
To be fair, Moreau did have a couple of blocks on the Raiders’ scoring drive to start the third quarter. But he was also flagged for offensive pass interference that backed the Raiders up from the 12 to the 22-yard-line.
The final play of the third quarter saw Moreau get blocked onto his back to put pressure in Carr’s face on an incompletion. Then the first drive of the overtime period Moreau gave up two run stuffs. To say he’s had better days would be a considerable understatement.
