Dolphins Week 3 Loss: The Five Biggest Plays
The Miami Dolphins' Week 3 game at Las Vegas featured a lot of wild momentum swings, but ended with the Raiders winning 31-28 in overtime on a last-season field goal by Daniel Carlson.
We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:
1. Derek Carr's 34-yard pass to Bryan Edwards in overtime
The Raiders drive after the Dolphins tied the game in overtime began with a false start penalty, which caused an early first-and-15. But then Carr dropped a gorgeous pass to Edwards, who got past Brandon Jones and Sam Eguavoen deep down the middle. The gain immediately put the Raiders in Dolphins territory.
2. Jason Sanders' field goal in overtime
Sure, this might sound strange, but the Dolphins took the safe approach when they had Sanders kick a 50-yard field goal with 2:49 left because at that point the best they could hope for realistically was to leave Las Vegas with a tie. The Dolphins already were 3-for-4 on fourth down in this game, and the argument absolutely can be made they should have been more daring in this spot and gone for the first down in the hopes of eventually driving for a game-winning touchdown.
3. Jacoby Brissett's end-zone incompletion to Will Fuller V
This actually maybe belongs higher on the list because instant replay on that Brissett pass in overtime certainly seemed to show that pass interference should have been called on defensive back Johnathan Abram, who clearly appeared to make early contact with Fuller in the end zone. That would have (should have) given the Dolphins the ball at the 1-yard line with a chance to win with a touchdown.
4. Peyton Barber's 27-yard run in overtime
After Edwards put the Raiders in Dolphins territory, Barber got Las Vegas easy into field goal range on the very next play. In two plays, Las Vegas had moved from its 20 to the Miami 19.
5. The Raiders safety in the first quarter
The Dolphins had all the momentum early in the game and led 14-0 when they made the regrettable decision to throw wide to Jaylen Waddle on first down from their 1-yard line. Even stranger, there was nowhere close enough to block for Waddle, who quickly was tackled for a safety that gave the Raiders some life. Who knows, maybe the game plays out differently without that highly dubious play call.
