Raiders’ quick slants: Dolphins edition

Lackadaisical Las Vegas leveled in 34-19 loss

The offense made baby steps towards improvement. The defense, meanwhile, is going backwards.

That was the high-level tale of the tape for the Las Vegas Raiders in a 34-19 thumping handed to them by the host Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.

The defeat marks the sixth-straight for the Silver & Black and represents the longest losing streak in the NFL today (the New York Giants are close at five straight games lost) and plants the Raiders firmly in the AFC West cellar with a 2-8 overall record.

Like many other teams, the Dolphins used the matchup against the Raiders to remedy the woes that plagued them — namely offense.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw three touchdowns as he spread the ball around and fleet-footed running back De’Von Achane carved up Las Vegas’ defense to the tune of 73 yards and a touchdown.

Sure, we can point to injuries eroding the Raiders defense, but the way the unit is getting used and abused by the opposition goes beyond lack of depth. It’s either poor coaching, poor player retention, or a combo of both. Because no matter who is out there — starters or backups — the communication issues and breakdowns have resulted in comical errors. Like the 57-yard touchdown Tagovailoa threw to tight end Jonnu Smith — who was left wide open.

In total, Miami produced 353 yards of total offense and finished an excellent three-for-four in red zone trips where the drives culminated in touchdowns versus short field goals. And the group commanded the time of possession having the ball for 33:12 compared to the Las Vegas’ 26:48.

“We’ve got to be (able to figure it out),” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said in the postgame press conference. “When new guys come in, we’ve just got to keep talking. Overcommunicating is what we talk about when you get a younger guy in there or somebody who hasn’t gotten a lot of reps. It’s no excuse, but we’ve got to keep communicating. We knew they were going to motion or shift on every play.”

Knowing before hand is one thing. Actually doing something about it is a treacherous mountain to climb and unfortunately for Pierce and his Raiders, they’ve fallen off the cliff with no safety harness.

“You can always make excuses and point to other things, but it’s just about details,” Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby said after the game. “We’re just playing for pride at this point.”

On the bright side, communication was much better on the offensive side of the ball. Interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner and his father Norv (who is a senior advisor) breathed life into the Raiders’ passing game that produced 282 yards and two touchdowns.

And I’m pretty sure Pierce is going to be saying “we need players to have Brock Bowers energy”, a phrase he used repeatedly when it came to the vibe Crosby brings to the team on a daily basis. The resolute rookie tight end paced both teams with a 13-catch, 126-yard performance on 16 targets as he sprinted past Mami’s defense for a touchdown. If it weren’t for Smith’s 57-yard score that gave him six catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, Bowers would’ve been the highlight tight end of the game.

“There definitely were a few plays in there for me for sure,” Bowers said displaying his modesty after the game. “But my job is to catch the ball and get yards, that’s about it.”

“We’re trying to do everything we can to feature our best player,” Pierce said of Bowers. “He’s playing like that and he’s tough. He’s physical. Doesn’t want to come out of the game. … He’s doing everything that we ask him to do as a rookie.”

Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as Bowers and Smith torched the respective defenses:

—Where the Raiders offense continues to struggle — despite the coaching changes — is the ground game. Las Vegas totaled 60 yards on 16 carries and if you remove the two carries by wide receivers Jakobi Myers (20 yards) and Tre Tucker (seven yards), that total dips even further. Neither running backs Alexander Mattison and Zamir White (who started the game) produced much with five carries for 19 yards for the former, five carries for nine yards for the former.

—Raiders defensive end Tyree Wilson and defensive tackle Adam Butler collected the two lone sacks of the afternoon. Wilson’s was a strip sack variety while Butler took advantage of pressure from Crosby to take down Tagovailoa.

—Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins represents the fifth time the Raiders have allowed 30 or more points. Las Vegas yielded 41 against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9, 32 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6, 34 to the Denver Broncos in Week 5, and 36 to the Carolina Panthers in week 3.

—Minshew finished 30 of 43 for 282 yards with two touchdown throws and one interception. He was sacked three times and fortunately for him, the pick was his lone turnover of the afternoon.

—A once disciplined team under Pierce, Las Vegas has become penalty-prone as the team got clipped for seven penalties for 49 yards against Miami. The Dolphins, in comparison, were flagged four times to the tune of 23 penalty yards.

Quotes of Note:

“Yeah, we’re down, man. But I tell you, I’ve been on teams where they’ve sent it in, but we’re not doing that. We practice hard, dude. We come up, we show up and lift on Mondays. Everyone’s doing the right things, man. We haven’t been getting the results and we’ve been plays short, but like, I feel like we continue on our process, continue trying to get better; it’s going to break for us.” —Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew

“Guys show up on Mondays right after the game and work out. The whole team does. Tuesday as well. We’re showing up every single day. Guys are looking to improve. I don’t think that’s the issue at all. These guys are great in this locker room. … We’ve just got to keep showing up.” —Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby