Five Instant Overreactions to Dolphins-Raiders

The Miami Dolphins opened their season with a 27-13 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders, which means it’s time to overreact to the first game of the Jeff Hafley era.

Bobby Slowik isn’t the answer at OC

In the midst of a complete coaching staff overhaul, Miami decided to promote assistant Bobby Slowik to offensive coordinator, so maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Dolphins offense suffered the same flaws we saw under Mike McDaniel.

Growing pains are to be expected, but the sheer volume of procedural errors is concerning in the very least. Delay of game penalties, burning timeouts, and receivers not knowing where to line up littered crucial downs, and often set Miami up behind the sticks.

Slowik's offense felt clunky and failed to find a consistent rhythm. There will certainly be growth as players gain experience in a new scheme, but this performance was largely unimpressive.

Give Caleb Douglas his gold jacket

Lost in an abysmal passing performance is the debut of third-round rookie Caleb Douglas, who caught five of his seven targets for 94 yards. The team’s intermediate attack funneled through Douglas, as he was able to make crucial catches on Miami’s scoring drives in the second and third quarters.

For a brief moment in time (when Miami was able to find explosives through the air), Douglas looked like a true No. 1 receiver. That, in combination with Malik Washington and Chris Bell’s lackluster performances, sets up Douglas for more opportunities.

Edge defender is Miami’s worst position

The Raiders completely controlled the pace of this game early on through their outside ground game. Miami’s defensive ends were consistently knocked off the ball and were unable to capture the edge.

The passing game was much of the same. Kirk Cousins had plenty of time in the pocket, and their offensive line pitched a shutout, allowing zero sacks. Chop Robinson was seemingly keyed in on by Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, and he failed to make a mark.

Miami’s secondary was expected to be their worst unit, and while they definitely had their woes, they were also able to intercept Cousins twice, which is substantially more than the edges.

Hafley is better than McDaniel (at least at one thing)

Potentially the most crucial moment of Miami’s lone touchdown drive didn’t come from a player, but rather head coach Jeff Hafley, who challenged the ruling of an incomplete pass on a sideline catch by Caleb Douglas.

Hafley and his staff’s keen eyes resulted in the call being overturned, marking the first-time head coach’s first successful challenge.

This was a failing of previous head coach Mike McDaniel, who threw the red flag 21 times throughout his Dolphins tenure, with only four calls being overturned.

Special teams is less than special

The Miami Dolphins decidedly lost all three phases of their week one game, but special teams stuck out like a sore thumb.

Miami gave up a 50-yard kick return to Dylan Laube, and another 23 yards on a punt to Malik Benson. Both of these plays sparked scoring drives for the Raiders that changed the course of this game.

Laube’s return came directly after Miami’s only touchdown, and gave the Raiders a short field, which they took advantage of with seven points of their own.

Even when running back Jaylen Wright mustered a 79-yard return for Miami, it was once again the kicking game that let them down, as Riley Patterson missed a 41-yard field goal attempt.

It’s likely going to take a collaborative effort for an upstart Dolphins team to win games, and starting behind the 8-ball in a crucial phase is the opposite of that.

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