Raiders-Dolphins score: Las Vegas can’t play complete game

Las Vegas is no match for the 4-7 Dolphins

The 4-7 Miami Dolphins are not a good NFL football team.

But they are much better than the Las Vegas Raiders who came out of their bye Sunday and floundered once again, this time being toppled 34-19 by the host Miami Dolphins.

The Raiders have lost six straight games and are 2-8. They have trailed by double digits in all 10 of their games, which is mind boggling.

The switch from Luke Getsy to interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner didn’t provide much results. Quarterback Gardner Minshew and the offense wasn’t bad, but t was great other than special tight end Brock Bowers, who set an NFL record Sunday.

The Raider’s defense folded hard as the Dolphins scored on five of their first six possessions, extending long drives. Miami never punted. The Raiders have allowed 75 points in the past two games.

This game was a perfect example of the Raiders being incapable on both sides of the ball and being a truly poor team right now.

As the losses pile up, the spotlight shines on coach Antonio Pierce, whose team stumbled in its first game after an intense team meeting. The Raiders are 7-12 with Pierce as coach.

The march to the offseason is on on and we will see what kind of changes are coming for this moribund franchise.

Oh and the injuries, continued to pile up.

On the the second play of the game, Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett hurt his shoulder and he left the game. Rookie Decamarion Richardson replaced Bennett. The Raiders are already playing without nickel corner Nate Hobbs, who is out with an ankle injury. Bennett was ruled out in the third quarter. The Raiders’ other starting cornerback Jack Jones was hurt in the fourth quarter, injuring his back. They were down to Richardson, Darnay Holmes and Sam Webb. Raiders’ running back Alexander Mattison was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. Running back Zamir White hurt his quad. Linebacker Robert Spillane hurt his arm late in the game.

Here are some are key aspects of the game:

Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Big game for Bowers:

Rookie Brock Bowers had 13 catches for 124 yards and a score. It was the most catches by a rookie in a game ever. He has 70 receptions. He has the second most catches by a Raiders rookie behind Amari Cooper’s 72 in 2015. Bowers has seven more games to play. Bowers had catches for xx yards. He has xx catches on the season. He is the ninth rookie tight end to catch at least, 60 passes. He is one of three players (the only tight end) with, at least, 65 catches in his first 10 games. He is on pace to set the rookie tight end catching record. Detroit’s Sam LaPorta set it last season with 86 grabs,

Minshew probably keeps job:

Minshew’s numbers were solid as he completed 30 of 43 pass attempts for 282 yards and he had two touchdown passes with one late interception. Minshew wasn’t great but he was OK in Turner’s debut as the play caller. He probably did enough for the Raiders to stick with him next week against Denver instead of turning to backup Desmond Ridder, who many expected to start at Miami. Aidan O’Connell is eligible to come off the injured reserve in 12 days at Kansas City. So, this will be revisited soon.

Bad penalties:
On the first drive of the game, the Raiders, who had seven penalties for 49 yards, were called for two big penalties, unnecessary roughness on defensive end Maxx Crosby and then defensive holding on K’Lavon Chaisson on third and 20, giving the Dolphins a first down. In the fourth quarter, with the Raiders trailing 24-19 with 3:35 remaining, Darnay Holmes was called for pass interference. Crosby had had four big penalties in the past six games. The Dolphins scored a touchdown on the drive on a 14-play series that eclipsed more than eight minutes.

Nice play by Wilson:

Second-year defensive end Tyree Wilson sacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on the opening drive, but the Dolphins recovered the ball. It was a nice moment for Wilson, who has been inconsistent but who occasionally flashes.

Nice touch:

Minshew threw to tight end Michael Mayer on the Raiders’ first offensive play. Mayer missed the past six games because of personal reasons. Mayer has one catch for five games.

White starts:

The Raiders made Zamir White the starting tailback for the game. He began the season as the starter, but was replaced by Alexander Mattison. Both White (quad) and Mattison (ankle) were injured. White had nine rushing yards on five carries and Mattison had 19 yards on five carries. The Raiders had 29 yards rushing yards by running backs, so their ground game woes continued Sunday.

Solid start:

The Raiders went three-and-out on their first offensive series under interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner, but they were bailed on a roughing the punter call. The Raiders went down on converted a 27-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter,

Fourth-down success:
The Dolphins went for it on fourth down and short on both of their first two series and converted both times. The Dolphins had long drives on both of those drives, going 14 and 16 drives as they scored a total of 10 points. The Dolphins went on a 14-play scoring drive on their first drive of the second half. All three scoring drives went, at least, seven minutes, 44 seconds.

Corner issues:

Bennett went out for good on the second play of the game with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by rookie, fourth-round pick Decamerion Richardson. The Raiders were already without nickel Hobbs with an ankle injury. The Raiders’ other starting cornerback, Jones, was hurt in the fourth quarter. The Raiders could be in trouble if these three are going to be out for a while. They were down to Richardson, Darnay Holmes and Sam Webb on Sunday,

Jones has good game:
Before he was hurt, Jones had a solid game, especially as a run stopper. He had six tackles.