Miami Dolphins defense vs. Las Vegas Raiders offense
By Jon Shearer
The Miami Dolphins defense showed up last week despite the lopsided score. The Dolphins held Josh Allen under 200 yards and held Stefon Diggs in check.
The defense wore down in the 4th quarter and points started to pile up to the tune of a Buffalo 35-0 victory. Miami has some issues defensively but they held their own against a formidable Bills offense. Miami will have its hands full with Darren Waller and Henry Ruggs on Sunday. Waller has torched Miami in the past so the Dolphins will have to go to brackets and double teams to keep the prolific tight end from breaking the game open. Keeping Waller at bay is important with a receiver such as Ruggs on the outside who can change the game with his speed.
Josh Jacobs will miss his 2nd straight game and former Miami Dolphin Kenyan Drake will handle the majority of the touches for Las Vegas.
Nik Needham will be important in keeping Hunter Renfrow from moving the chains for the Raiders. The man-to-man defense and blitz packages Miami likes to run should play into the Dolphins’ hands matchup-wise with Carr coming off of an ankle injury. Look for the defense to test Carr early and often.
Jevon Holland will be another key piece to the Dolphins coming out of Vegas with a win, Holland is currently the 2nd highest graded safety (85.2) according to PFF through two weeks of the NFL season. Holland is physical, has shown the ability to come up to the line of scrimmage, and stop plays before they get started with good timing. Disruption will be important for Holland to keep the Raiders one-sided offensively.
Jerome Baker struggled mightily against Buffalo, looking lost at times. Baker will need to protect the middle of the field and get back to being the player the Dolphin organization gave a large contract to.
Prediction: Miami wins on the back of the defense, limits the big plays from Las Vegas, and forces turnovers to give Jacoby Brissett and the offense shorter drives.