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It's been a disheartening start for the Raiders, who got rid of their best defensive player and find themselves 0-2 due to a late-game collapse in Denver. Now they travel cross-country for an early start against the 2-0 yet underrated Dolphins. Lay the field goal.
Not a fan of Reshad Jones being out for the Dolphins, nor do I like that Miami is only favored by three in a game that it should be getting five or six points. What I do like is that the Dolphins have playmakers to keep the Raiders on edge, a quarterback in Ryan Tannehill who continues his ascencion under coach Adam Gase, and a secondary that -- even without Jones -- has Xavien Howard and Minkah Fitzpatrick creating hell for opposing signal callers. If Oakland can't get to Tannehill -- and we know pass rush is an issue -- how exactly is it going to stop Miami? The Dolphins continue to be overlooked (their opening win total projection was 5.5!) and win this at home against a team flying across the country for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
The Dolphins' defense has done a great job in the first two weeks, creating turnovers and ranking fifth in points allowed per drive. I expect the Raiders to be a little sluggish playing a cross-country 1 p.m. game, and they've scored just seven points in the second half of their first two games combined. Add it up and this looks like another low-scoring game for each team after both saw their games finish in the 30s last week.
This is a strange line to me, as 0-2 Oakland has to travel cross-country for a 1 p.m. start against a 2-0 team with a solid home-field advantage. The Dolphins defense has looked great so far, giving up just two offensive TDs in 24 drives. Derek Carr went 29 for 32 last week and the offense still managed just 19 points. The Dolphins have proven themselves the much better team and should be laying north of a FG here.
The Raiders played a good game last week at Denver. I don't like that they're playing early and traveling again, but Derek Carr had a heckuva game last week, Marshawn Lynch is running well and the Dolphins defense isn't great. Ryan Tannehill can go in the tank at any time. Oakland beat the Dolphins last year and I think the Raiders do it again. The Dolphins have been really lucky the past two weeks.