Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins: 5 takeaways from Week 3

MIAMI, FL - SEPTEMBER 23: Jon Gruden reacts on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 23, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - SEPTEMBER 23: Jon Gruden reacts on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 23, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 24: ArdenKey #99 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after he sacked the quarterback against the Green Bay Packers during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on August 24, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 24: ArdenKey #99 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after he sacked the quarterback against the Green Bay Packers during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on August 24, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

The pass rush fades fast

Against Miami the Raiders pass rush was able to cause Ryan Tannehil some trouble in the first half. They only recorded one sack, credited to Clinton McDonald, but don’t be fooled by the box score. The Raiders defensive line made Tannehil’s job very difficult in the first half. On a less mobile quarterback, they probably would have had three or four sacks in the first half.

Despite how disruptive the pass rush was, they were not able to close out the game in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. In crunch time the defensive line looked gassed, just like they did last week against Denver. To be fair, Denver and Miami are both unforgiving places to play, but still, they disappear.

Add in all of the comments Jon Gruden has made about finding a pass rusher and you have a disastrous situation. So let’s recap. The Raiders have one of the best pass-rushers in the league in Khalil Mack. They then trade Mack, and they have issues on the defensive line with regards to applying pressure on the quarterback. Correlation?

Next. Raiders at Dolphins: 3 up 3 down. dark

Nonetheless, Mack is gone and the Raiders need to come up with a way to replace him. It isn’t going to be easy, but they need to do something or they will continue to surrender leads late in the game. Perhaps if the season continues on this trajectory they will be in play for either Nick Bosa or Ed Oliver come draft time.