Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins: 3 things we learned

The defense can only do so much

For the third game in a row the Raiders defense managed to hold their own for the majority of the game. Oakland stifled the Dolphins running game as it was limited to just 41 yards on the day, and until the final few minutes of the third quarter Miami mustered only seven points in total. In fact, the defense forced the Dolphins to look deep into their playbook and only then were they finally able to find the end zone.

However, the defense can only do so much to put this team in a position to win, and if the offense cannot put points on the board and extend the lead the opposing offense will eventually configure a game plan to move the ball. We saw this on Sunday as the Dolphins took to trickery to eventually catch Paul Guenther’s defense on their heels and get back into the game.

There are very few scoring defenses in the NFL, but this Raiders defense is not one of those. For a defensive squad that faces the challenge of pressuring the quarterback, they’ve managed to hold their own in the first three games and Sunday against the Dolphins was no different. They need help from the offense to effectively put away opponents for good.