Week 16 – Raiders vs Miami Dolphins
The 2019 Miami Dolphins were on track to be one of the worst teams in NFL history after an 0-7 start and an incredible -171 point differential. They turned things around in the second half of the season going 5-4 in their last 9 games and playing spoiler against the New England Patriots knocking them out of the top two seeds.
Things got even better for the Dolphins as they ended the season with high hopes and still drafted their man in Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa who many believed they were tanking for all along. Much like the Chargers they still have a veteran QB on the roster in Ryan Fitzpatrick but he is the definition of a journeyman and we should see him hand the job to Tagovailoa if he is fully healthy.
Even the best rookie QBs have a learning curve and the Dolphins will be one of the youngest teams in the league after their incredible draft haul of 11 picks. The Raiders will be hoping that their youthful inexperience will lead to an up and down season though we know by now that they will not be an easy out. Head coach Brian Flores had his guys playing inspired football but they did so without the weight of expectations which may not be the case in 2020.
This game concludes the Raiders longest stretch of home games for the season and anything less than 3-0 will be a massive disappointment after the tough first half of the year. They will likely need to make up ground in the division or wild card race and these three games present an excellent chance to do so.