It was refreshing for Las Vegas Raiders fans to not really notice the offensive line in the team's opener against the Miami Dolphins. The group's effort in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season was unlike anything they put together last year, which is a testament to just how far this group has already come.
After plenty of offseason hype, Rick Dennison's unit was under a microscope to begin the campaign. But they were big winners in the contest, handling a Dolphins front that they should have handled. And while it's easy to write off this showing against a fairly weak opponent, I'd advise against that.
Las Vegas turned in a very clean and promising stat sheet on Sunday, yes. But it also showed some high-level cohesion, as well as implementation and understanding of advanced concepts in the early going. Combine that with a solid offensive environment, and this group is worth believing in.
Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line answered the call in Week 1 vs. Miami Dolphins
The proof was in the pudding for the Raiders' offensive line in Week 1, as Kirk Cousins had all day to throw, and running backs Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. had gaping holes to run through. Starting with their pass protection, Las Vegas really answered the call against Miami.
Cousins did not get sacked a single time on Sunday, and he was only hit twice and pressured seven times. One of those hits was the fault of full back Connor Heyward, and the other was on guard Spencer Buford, who gave up four total pressures. Jackson Powers-Johnson gave up the other two.
That means that the starting tackle duo of Kolton Miller and DJ Glaze, as well as starting center Tyler Linderbaum, pitched shutouts against the Dolphins to begin the year. ESPN's Seth Walder noted that Miller and Glaze had the best and 3rd-best pass-block win rates in the league in Week 1, respectively.
This is the same Glaze who gave up 10 sacks and 48 pressures last year. And it's not like Miami's Chop Robinson is an easy foe for him or anyone in the league, really. But the Raiders' young right tackle stepped up to the plate, and veterans Miller and Linderbaum expectedly dominated as well.
All told, the group gave up the third-lowest pressure rate in the NFL in Week 1, despite the Dolphins blitzing at the 8th-highest rate in the league. That means that Las Vegas was shutting Miami out, despite its efforts to increase the pressure and havoc. The Raiders' pass protection was great.
Part of this can be attributed to Kubiak's clever scheme and game plan to get the ball out of Cousins' hands quickly. When the veteran doesn't have to hold the ball and wait for longer routes to develop, it doesn't give defensive lines much time to get home. That was a smart approach from the head coach.
As far as the run blocking, it certainly helps the cause that Las Vegas now has a great lead back in Heyward. He wasn't afraid to blow up defenders between the tackles as a run or pass blocker, as you can see here, and he insulates the group up front at times by giving them another line of defense.
But this rushing attack went for 130 yards on the ground because the offensive line moved bodies in the run game. Jeanty and Washington Jr. both had success, as they averaged 4.4 and 5.9 yards per attempt, respectively, and they had no big plays as an outlier to drive these numbers up.
This was every-down effectiveness.
By the end, the Raiders' yards per carry as a team fell to just 3.5, but that's because the Dolphins were selling out against the run as they trailed in the game and Las Vegas tried to milk the clock. Oh, and that number includes three kneel-downs by Cousins at the end, so it was really 4.0, in effect.
Plays like this demonstrate not only how much better the run blocking is than a year ago, but also how much more complex the scheme is and how much more Kubiak is asking of these players. And it paid off in a major way, as the Raiders dominated the battle in the trenches, and it wasn't close.
Clearly, this is a group worth believing in, even if Miami isn't the most formidable foe on the schedule.
Raiders' offensive line was imperfect but still great against the Dolphins, but it won't get easier
For all the good things that the Raiders' offensive line did against the Dolphins, they still had a few concerns, and the task ahead certainly isn't any easier. The Los Angeles Chargers will challenge them up front in Week 2, for starters, and there is no rest for the weary in the remainder of the schedule.
Burford's struggles are a tad concerning, as not only did he miss a key block on a screen, but he gave up a total of four pressures, which was double the rest of the group combined. If he continues to struggle, good teams will exploit that weak link.
Powers-Johnson also gave up two pressures as well, and both he and Burford received poor run-blocking grades from Pro Football Focus. It's not like PFF is the holy grail and all-knowing, and Raider Nation could see that these two weren't liabilities on Sunday. This is really nitpicking, but it's not ideal.
However, as concerns grow about Cousins' ability to throw downfield, which could jeopardize Las Vegas' plan to lean heavily on Jeanty and the run game, the Raiders' offensive line needs to be even more perfect. If Cousins has to hold the ball with things gummed up, that makes their job harder.
If the box is stacked, the offensive line won't have as clear a picture or as easy a time moving the guys up front and climbing to the second level to pave lanes. And again, the personnel that they'll face in the coming weeks will be drastically better, so now is no time to rest on their laurels.
Thankfully, the Silver and Black have an elite and experienced offensive line coach in Dennison who, surely, in his decades of coaching in this league, has seen this before. He can tap into that and continue developing the group in the exact way that Kubiak needs them to.
Sunday was a tremendous start for the Raiders' big boys up front, and despite being imperfect, there is every reason to believe in this group. The personnel and skill level are both improved, and the scheme and coaching are light-years better. This was just the start.
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