Las Vegas Raiders lose heartbreaker to Miami Dolphins

Raiders dominate the first half

Derek Carr was back in the lineup to start week 16 against the vaunted Dolphins defense, and he made his presence felt early. On the Raiders’ second drive, Carr orchestrated a  7-play 43-yard drive, aided by a 32-yard punt return from Hunter Renfrow. Carr made some tight-window throws and finished the drive by jumping over the pile for the first score of the game.

The Dolphins’ offense started to roll with some clutch plays from Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who hooked up with Jakeem Grant for a long third-down conversion. Tagovailoa would also rush for a first down on a fourth-and-5 zone read. However, the Raiders’ defense didn’t break in the red zone, as a third-down stop by Maxx Crosby would force the Dolphins to settle for a field goal.

Las Vegas would be the next team to score points, as they got the ball at midfield, and leaned heavily on their run game. Josh Jacobs‘ first carry went for 14 yards before Carr completed a pass to Nelson Agholor for 19 yards. However, after another strong run from Jacobs, the offense would stall and would have to rely on a field goal from Daniel Carlson.

Miami would then go into their bag of tricks, as a fake punt put them in Raiders territory. However, the defense played outstanding football in the first half, and run stops from Raekwon McMillan and Johnathan Abram would bring up another fourth down.

The two teams would trade field goals before the half, with the Raiders beating Miami 13-6.