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Week 11 Game Recap: Oakland Raiders 15, Miami Dolphins 17
What you need to know
| Oakland Raiders |
Oakland now hasn't scored an offensive touchdown in three straight games. Against Miami they were out gained 186 yards to 382, could only convert two of eleven third down opportunities, but still nearly pulled a huge upset in south Florida.
JaMarcus Russell returned to the lineup after missing one game with a knee injury. He looked more confident under center and completed 15 of 22 for 156 yards. He left the game for one series after being sacked late in the first quarter but returned to the game with his right ankle heavily taped. Ronald Curry was the only wide receiver involved in the passing game and perhaps his days in the Raiders' doghouse are over. He caught six balls for 73 yards and was targeted on two deep passes that fell incomplete. TE Zach Miller is still their leading receiver, and added 67 yards on four catches. Unfortunately, the most effective Raider offensive play went for 41 yards when Ashley Lelie drew an interference penalty in the second quarter.
Justin Fargas found limited success running against the Dolphin 3-4 defense, picking up 57 tough yards on 17 tries. His longest run went for 15 yards, but the line of scrimmage will remain crowded until Darren McFadden gets healthy and/or the Raiders passing attack begins to actually threaten anyone. McFadden made his first appearance in four games, and while he did not appear to run with any difficulty he only carried three times for 13 yards.
Jay Richardson sacked Pennington for a safety in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, special teams scored a TD when Johnny Lee Higgins returned a punt 93 yards to grab the lead, 15--14. Unfortunately, the defense could not prevent Miami from driving for the winning field goal with 38 seconds left.
| Miami Dolphins |
This game was a statistical blowout, but Miami fell behind in the fourth quarter and needed a long nail biting drive and a late field goal from rookie Dan Carpenter to nip the Raiders 17-15. The Dolphins out gained Oakland 382 yards to 186.
Chad Pennington managed the conservative game plan effectively. While he spread the ball around to seven different receivers the running game was rolling for 222 yards. When Miami fell behind in the fourth quarter, however, Pennington put the ball in the air. With the game on the line he completed a fourth and five pass to keep the drive alive that led to the winning field goal.
Even though Oakland limited the so-called wildcat offense to 52 yards on ten carries, the Miami rushing attack still picked up 222 yards and scored two touchdowns. Ronnie Brown gained 101 yards on 16 attempts while Ricky Williams carried 13 times for 49 yards. Patrick Cobbs scored on a 10 yard run in the third quarter.
Ted Ginn led all Miami receivers with four balls for 51 yards and scored their first TD on a 40 yard reverse. He also caught a first down pass on fourth and five to keep the critical winning drive alive near the end of the game. Greg Camarillo did not have a pass thrown his way until the fourth quarter. His first reception was made on an under thrown pass that was deflected and then tipped before he caught it near the sideline. The play looked like volleyball practice.
Quarterback coach David Lee served as the offensive coordinator at Arkansas last year where he installed the wildcat offense. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are currently playing the roles of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in the Miami version.
What you ought to know
| QB JaMarcus Russell, Pass: 15 - 22 - 156 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
JaMarcus Russell returned after missing one game with a knee injury and had his right ankle heavily taped after missing a series early in the second quarter. Consistency is still an issue, but there were moments when the Raiders got a glimpse of their franchise quarterback's potential. While 15 of 22 for 156 yards is modest, he did not throw an interception even though he was sacked five times and faced plenty of pressure all afternoon.
| QB Marques Tuiasosopo |
While Russell was having his ankle taped, Tuiasopopo got into the game for one exciting series. He was sacked once, fumbled (Oakland recovered), and the Raiders punted on fourth and 21 from their own 15 yard line.
| RB Justin Fargas, Rush: 17 - 57 - 0 (1 targets) |
Fargas started and played the entire game. He primarily ran between the tackles, averaging 3.4 yards per carry and was targeted once in the third quarter but the pass fell incomplete. While he is a quality NFL running back, this offense needs a home run hitter, someone to make something out of nothing.
| RB Darren McFadden, Rush: 3 - 13 - 0, Rec: 2 - 1 - 0 (2 targets) |
After missing four games McFadden made a brief appearance against Miami. He averaged over four yards per carry in limited duty, but he did not appear to be running with an injury. This offense could clearly use a healthy Darren McFadden.
| RB Luke Lawton, Rec: 1 - -2 - 0 (2 targets) |
The 240 pound lead blocker caught one slowly developing screen pass that lost two yards.
| WR Ronald Curry, Rec: 6 - 73 - 0 (9 targets) |
Two passes that Curry missed were thrown deep into double coverage. The other was an overthrown pass near the sidelines in the fourth quarter. He caught everything else, and should have earned his way out of the Oakland doghouse. He was knocked earlier this year for dropping too many passes. If he can become a possession receiver again, with Walker supposedly out for the rest of the season, Curry may have a wisp of fantasy value after all.
| WR Johnnie Lee Higgins |
Higgins was not targeted during the game, but gave Oakland the lead in the fourth quarter with a 93 yard punt return for a touchdown.
| WR Chaz Schilens (1 targets) |
Schilens only target came in the fourth quarter but he could not make the catch.
| WR Ashley Lelie (1 targets) |
Lelie made the most of his one target, drawing a questionable pass interference penalty that resulted in a 41 yard gain. While he is often sent on deep patterns, Curry took over that duty at least in this game.
| WR Javon Walker |
Oakland's $55 million free agent was reportedly finished for the season with an ankle injury. Walker recorded 15 receptions for 196 yards and one touchdown.
| TE Zach Miller, Rec: 4 - 67 - 0 (6 targets) |
Still the Raiders leading receiver, Miller made some tough catches and has developed a nice rapport with his QB. He seems to like working in the seams and when he makes his cut Russell only has a split second to get the ball to him. Miller's 27 yard catch was the longest completion in the game for Oakland.
| TE Tony Stewart, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
He was targeted in the third quarter and he caught them both for 17 yards. He also set up as a H back in the first quarter and totally missed a block that led to a sack of Russell.
| PK Sebastian Janikowski 2 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
He hit field goals from 21 and 37 yards, but a 46 yard attempt to take the lead bounced off the right upright. He also converted one PAT.
| OAK Rush Defense |
While the wildcat may have been tamed, the entire rushing attack gained 222 yards and scored two touchdowns. Besides Ronnie Brown picking up 101 yards, Ricky Williams gained 49, Ted Ginn 42, Patrick Cobbs 23, and Chad Pennington added seven yards.
| OAK Pass Defense |
The Raiders held Pennington to 174 yards and zero touchdowns. They also sacked him three times including once in the end zone for a safety by Jay Richardson. With the Miami running game gaining over 200 yards there weren't too many passes thrown.
| QB Chad Pennington, Pass: 16 - 22 - 174 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0 |
Chad Pennington managed the conservative game plan effectively and spread the ball around to seven different receivers. While he did an overall good job of managing the game he was also sacked in the end zone for a safety. When Miami fell behind in the fourth quarter, however, Pennington went to work. He marched his team down the field, along the way completing a fourth and five pass to keep the drive alive, to set up the winning field goal.
| RB Ronnie Brown, Rush: 16 - 101 - 0, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (1 targets) |
Brown gained over 100 yards but was held out of the end zone. Miami ran the wildcat offense ten times but the Raiders made some big stops and actually stripped the ball from Brown and recovered the fumble. He gained 18 meaningless yards with :03 left in the first half when the Raiders dropped eight men deep and Brown ran a delay as time expired. He gained some tough yards against a defense keyed to stop him, however, and is the catalyst of this offense.
| RB Ricky Williams, Rush: 13 - 49 - 0, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
The Dolphins believe that Williams is rounding into the best shape of his career at just the right moment. While Williams only picked up 49 yards on 13 carries and caught two passes for six yards, there were a few times when he had just one man to beat to break off a long run. He is running very hard and shows no signs of slowing up.
| RB Patrick Cobbs, Rush: 3 - 23 - 1, Rec: 3 - 16 - 0 (3 targets) |
You never know how involved or uninvolved Cobbs will be in the offense. In this game, he caught three passes for 16 yards and carried three times for 23 yards including a ten yard TD run. He is also a big contributor on special teams and made two key solo tackles.
| RB Lousaka Polite (1 targets) |
In limited action Polite did not catch the one pass thrown his way.
| WR Ted Ginn, Rush: 2 - 42 - 1, Rec: 4 - 51 - 0 (5 targets) |
Ginn had a triple threat day, running a 40 yard reverse for a touchdown in the first quarter, leading the team in receiving with four balls for 51 yards, and also returning punts and kickoffs.
| WR Davone Bess, Rec: 3 - 50 - 0 (5 targets) |
The rookie from Hawaii saw a little more time. They like his speed and his role in this offense should continue to increase. He was second on the team with three grabs for 50 yards and returned two punts for 13 yards.
| WR Greg Camarillo, Rec: 2 - 34 - 0 (2 targets) |
Nnamdl Asomugha had to cover somebody and Camarillo drew the short straw. He managed to earn points toward his varsity letter in the fourth quarter, however, when he caught two passes for 34 yards.
| TE David Martin, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Martin managed to catch one pass for six yards.
| TE Anthony Fasano (1 targets) |
Fasano did not make the stat sheet.
| PK Dan Carpenter 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
The free agent rookie from Montana had a dramatic day, hitting the game winning 38 yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the game for a 17 -- 15 victory.
| MIA Rush Defense |
With the Raiders having a limited passing attack Miami was able to crowd the line of scrimmage and fill all the gaps. Justin Fargas averaged 3.4 per carry and the Raiders rushed for only 70 yards. Channing Crowder led the Dolphins with six solo tackles.
| MIA Pass Defense |
Joey Porter had 1.5 of the Dolphins six total sacks as the Raiders only managed to pass for 156 yards and no touchdowns.
