Dolphins Week 3 Complete Highlights and Lowlights
A look at the highlights and lowlights for the Miami Dolphins in their Week 3 game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium:
DOLPHINS HIGHLIGHTS
FIRST HALF
-- Jaelan Phillips made his presence felt early, helping to stop Kenyan Drake after a 3-yard run on the first offensive snap of the game.
-- Christian Wilkins ended the Raiders' first drive when he got to Derek Carr after a stunt at the line, but Emmanuel Ogbah deserves mention for applying the initial pressure.
-- Jacoby Brissett threw a dart to DeVante Parker to convert the Dolphins' first third-down situation of the game.
-- The Dolphins' first two runs of the game gained 6 and 5 yards by Malcolm Brown and Myles Gaskin, respectively.
-- Wilkins made another nice play on the Raiders' second series with a stop of Drake after a 2-yard gain.
-- Linebacker Elandon Roberts took advantage of a mix-up between QB Derek Carr and TE Foster Moreau to make an easy pick and then returned it 82 yards for a touchdown.
-- Zach Sieler came up with two huge plays on Raiders run, combining with Adam Butler to stuff Peyton Barber for no gain on third-and-1 and then stuffing Barber again for no gain when Las Vegas decided to go for it on fourth-and-1.
-- Great blocking up front, in particular by Jesse Davis and Austin Jackson opened up the big hole that got Malcolm Brown into the end on his 24-yard touchdown that gave the Dolphins a 14-0 lead.
-- Sieler made another play at the start of the Raiders' third series, tipping a Carr pass at the line of scrimmage.
-- Xavien Howard and Nik Needham had great coverage to force incompletions on second and third down.
-- Brandon Jones ran over former Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake on his way to sacking Derek Carr to force the Raiders to settle for a field goal in the second quarter.
-- Roberts popped the ball loose from Peyton Barber on a first-and-goal run, though the Raiders were lucky enough to recover the fumble.
-- Myles Gaskin's 14-yard run on second-and-23 helped put the Dolphins in position to be able to convert a first down late in the half.
-- Brissett picked up that first down with a scramble, though he took a shot at the end of the play because he didn't slide.
-- Great hands catch by Mike Gesicki on the 9-yard completion late in the half.
SECOND HALF
-- Nik Needham had great coverage against Bryan Edwards to force an incompletion. He really should be the slot corner instead of Justin Coleman.
-- Butler and Sieler teamed again to stuff fullback Alec Ingold for no gain on first-and-goal from the 1.
-- Brissett isn't particularly nimble, but he was able to gain 19 yards on a scramble to set up the Dolphins field goal in the fourth quarter.
-- Xavien Howard had perfect coverage against Edwards on a crossing route to force a third-down incompletion.
-- Wilkins came up with another big play, stuffing Peyton Barber for a 2-yard loss on the drive that began after the Dolphins' failed quarterback sneak.
-- Brandon Jones' second sack of the game, good for 15 yards, produced the three-and-out the Dolphins needed for a last chance at tying the score in regulation.
-- Brissett and Mack Hollins didn't connect when the Dolphins took a shot in the end zone from the 27-yard line, but Hollins drew a pass-interference penalty that produced a first-and-goal at the 1.
-- On fourth down, Brissett showed great awareness in the pocket and made a quick juke to get in the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown before he connected with Will Fuller V on the game-tying two-point conversion.
-- Brissett and tight end Mike Gesicki teamed up for a spectacular 27-yard completion on fourth-and-20 on the Dolphins' must-have first drive of overtime after Brissett threw a strike while moving to his left and Gesicki made a great hands catch.
-- The Dolphins got the Raiders out of position with a draw on third-and-7 from their 45 on that same drive, and Myles Gaskin ran through a big hole for a 15-yard gain.
-- Jason Sanders came through in the clutch when he tied the score in overtime with a 50-yard kick.
-- Byron Jones had great coverage downfield against tight end Darren Waller to force a first-down incompletion.
DOLPHINS LOWLIGHTS
FIRST HALF
-- Brissett threw incompletions on his first two attempts, the first when he was misfired near the sideline and the second when Maxx Crosby got pressure after getting by tight end Adam Shaheen.
-- Slot corner Justin Coleman was beaten badly down the middle by Hunter Renfrow for a 24-yard gain.
-- Coleman later failed to tackle Brian Edwards after a short reception and it turned into a 23-yard gain.
-- The Dolphins gave up a 25-yard completion to Hunter Renfrow, though they were bailed out on the next play when a bad shotgun snap led to an 18-yard loss after Carr threw the ball away with Eric Rowe bearing down on him.
-- After starting their third possession at their 1, the Dolphins made the very strange call to have Brissett throw a quick pass behind the line to wide receiver Jaylen Waddle without a blocker to help him, and Waddle was dropped for a safety.
-- The Dolphins called for a screen pass on third-and-9 on a second-quarter series, but the pressure got to Brissett too quickly for the play to be run correctly.
-- Elandon Roberts was flagged for a roughing penalty when he hit Peyton Barber out of bounds after a reception — the hit wasn't egregious but it was late.
-- Xavien Howard was beaten for a 23-yard completion by Henry Ruggs III when he had good coverage, but Ruggs deserves credit for going up and making a play on the ball.
-- At the end of a play where the Dolphins got beat for a 21-yard gain after a quick out pass to Ruggs, rookie Jevon Holland committed a silly roughness penalty when he lowered his helmet to make contact instead of just pushing Ruggs out of bounds.
-- The Dolphins gave up a 95-yard touchdown drive when they saw their lead cut to 14-12 right after the two-minute warning.
-- Rookie Liam Eichenberg was beaten wide by Carl Nassib for a 13-yard sack late in the first half.
-- A bad shotgun snap by Michael Deiter caused Brissett to have to throw the ball away.
-- The half ended on a disappointing note when Jason Sanders doinked a 48-yard field goal attempt off the right upright.
SECOND HALF
-- The second half began very poorly on offense with a three-and-out, caused in large part by a low-block penalty on Brown.
-- The Raiders' first offensive play of the half was a 14-yard run by Barber where he carried a pile of defenders for extra yards.
-- Justin Coleman, who had a rough day in coverage, was flagged for a questionable roughing penalty after a 15-yard completion to Zay Jones.
-- Xavien Howard was beaten for a 12-yard touchdown catch by Hunter Renfrow, but Renfrow deserves credit for making several moves in a short area to get free.
-- Roberts let Barber slip out of the backfiled for an easy 23-yard completion in the third quarter.
-- Robert Hunt got beat on a third-down sack that forced the Dolphins to settle for a field goal early in the fourth quarter.
-- The Dolphins failed to gain 1 yard on two rushing plays, including a fourth-down quarterback sneak, to turn the ball over at the Vegas 43-yard line late in the fourth quarter.
-- Brissett threw a bad pass to Myles Gaskin in the flat on a third-and-3 when Gaskin had plenty of open field ahead of him.
-- Austin Jackson's false-start penalty turned a fourth-and-3 on the Dolphins' drive to tie the game at the end of regulation into a fourth-and-8.
-- Brown carried the ball twice after taking a snap in the Wildcat formation from the 1-yard line and the two plays resulted in a net loss of 1 yard, providing more evidence that the Wildcat should be shelved once and for all.
-- Coleman was beaten for a 32-yard completion to Bryan Edwards on the opening drive of overtime, a play that led to a Raiders field goal.
-- Jackson was called for holding on the Dolphins' first drive of overtime when they needed at least a field goal to avoid a loss at the time, putting the Dolphins in a first-and-20 hole.
-- There's reason to question the Dolphins' play-call of a shovel pass to tight end Mike Gesicki up the middle on third-and-3 from the Raiders 33-yard line, particularly if the decision was going to be to kick a 50-yard field goal on fourth down instead of going for the first down.
-- The Dolphins gave up a 34-yard completion and a 27-yard on back-to-back plays on the Raiders' final drive, and that set up the game-winning field goal.
