The Las Vegas Raiders open up the 2026 NFL season at home against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1. This is a favorable matchup for Klint Kubiak in his first official game, as the Dolphins tore things down even more than the Raiders did this offseason and are in an even earlier stage of their rebuild.
Although the Silver and Black should have an advantage over their AFC counterpart in many facets, one area that sticks out more than the others is Las Vegas' pass rush against an inexperienced quarterback in Malik Willis and a Miami offensive line that is very much a work in progress.
So, Maxx Crosby and his crew seemingly hold the keys to victory ahead of opening weekend, and luckily, a fire has already been lit under the Raiders' star edge rusher, courtesy of Patrick Paul, the Dolphins' starting left tackle. Let's break it all down before opening weekend.
Malik Willis and Dolphins' OL have some issues to iron out before facing Raiders
Willis is a talented player, and he looked competent at times under Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, working as the backup to Jordan Love. But he still hasn't been exposed to much in his NFL career, with just 22 games played, six starts under his belt, and a mere 155 pass attempts.
More crucially, for as mobile a player as Willis can be, he has a tendency to take too many sacks. In just 209 career dropbacks, Willis has been sacked 25 times for a loss of 131 yards, which puts his sack rate at 13.9%. For context, both Kirk Cousins and Aidan O'Connell are in the 5% range.
Sacks can be an offensive line stat, but for Willis, he has a dismal pressure-to-sack ratio of 27.8%. That means that when he is pressured, he oftentimes can't escape the defense or find a receiver under duress. A lot of his sacks, one could say, are on him. That's not a recipe for success.
Combine this with the fact that the Dolphins' offensive line isn't exactly proven, and it's clear that the Raiders have an opportunity to get home on Sunday. And they must if they want to escape with a Week 1 win at their home stadium.
For Miami, Patrick Paul had a solid year at left tackle in 2025, and Aaron Brewer is a very good center. The former is still very much beatable, though, even if the latter should make life pretty difficult for the Las Vegas interior. The problem is that Brewer can't do it alone; he needs help from guards.
Starting left guard Kadyn Proctor is a rookie first-rounder who played exclusively offensive tackle in college, so he is still learning a new position while adjusting to the NFL level. And he didn't fare too well this preseason, albeit much better as a pass-blocker than a run-blocker. He is a wild card.
At right guard, Miami is trotting Jonah Savaiinaea back out there after a downright catastrophic rookie season. He finished with an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 28.4, including a 14.1 mark as a pass-blocker, giving up 8 sacks and 45 pressures in 2025. Yikes.
Austin Jackson has been an average to slightly below-average right tackle in his career when healthy, but he doesn't have a chance of slowing down an elite player like Crosby. Somehow, he is the third-best player on this offensive line, which is worrisome for the Dolphins.
Between Willis' track record of not evading pressure and taking too many sacks, and this Miami offensive line's shaky starting five, the Raiders should be able to feast and get after the quarterback, which will throw the entire Dolphins offense off-kilter.
Raiders' pass rush is much improved on paper ahead of 2026
Crosby isn't the only show in town for Las Vegas on the defensive line anymore, as the Raiders added and developed players this offseason. Kwity Paye and Foley Fatukasi will make instant impacts with their arrivals, Tonka Hemingway is a different player, and Malcolm Koonce is due for a bounce-back.
First and foremost, Crosby is finally healthy again, and he is uniquely motivated this season to wreak havoc after an offseason in which he got traded to the Baltimore Ravens and then infamously sent back. He has a lot of people to prove wrong, and a handful to prove right. Angry Maxx is scary.
Paye didn't have his best season in 2025 with the Indianapolis Colts, but with a change of scenery and a diverse role up front, he can get back to that 8-sack range that he lived in prior and be a mainstay in the pocket with Crosby.
Koonce didn't look like himself at the beginning of last season as he worked back from an ACL tear, but he turned the corner late in the campaign. The further he is removed from that injury, the better Koonce should be, and he is now over two years from when he went down.
Hemingway had a massive offseason in Las Vegas, and those in the building are really excited about what the young Raiders defensive tackle can do. His calling card coming out of college was his pass-rush ability, and he flashed that late in 2025. In a bigger role, Hemingway should make a bigger impact.
Fatukasi instantly carved out a role for Rob Leonard's defense despite showing up late in training camp. With his burst off the line of scrimmage, he should be able to sneak past Miami's guards and quickly get into Willis' face and force the offense to get out of rhythm.
Adam Butler is always a threat as a pass rusher as well, so the Raiders have a dramatically better unit than they did last year. And with Leonard likely to blitz defensive backs and use linebackers like Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean in unique ways to add more pressure, it could be ugly for the Dolphins.
If Las Vegas can routinely get home, it'll help out their young secondary and force Miami into tough situations. If they can't, and they give the Dolphins time, then anything can happen. So, Crosby and his crew hold the keys to victory. Let's hope they can turn the knob, so to speak.
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