Raiders Slip Past Dolphins, 15-13
The Las Vegas Raiders fell behind for the first time this preseason, but still managed to hold off the Miami Dolphins, 15-13, on Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Barely.
It appeared the Raiders were going to have to make a last-minute drive down the field if they were to improve their record to 3-0, but Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders hit the left upright on a 46-yard field goal attempt with 1:34 remaining in the game and the ball bounced harmless away.
Running back Brittain Brown, who led the Raiders with 70 yards on nine carries, broke off a 36-yard run around right end to the Miami 26-yard-line on the first play after the missed field goal and rookie quarterback Chase Garbers took a knee twice to run out the clock.
The Raiders earlier defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, 27-11, and last week downed the Minnesota Vikings at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, 26-20.
Garbers, from the University of California in Berkeley, scrambled 29 yards earlier in the final quarter to start the Raiders on a drive that ended when Daniel Carlson kicked a 31-yard field goal to provide the Silver and Black with the winning points.
The Raiders were able to keep Miami veteran quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater from driving the Dolphins to a touchdown, but not rookie Skylar Thompson, a seventh-round draft choice out of Kansas State.
Thompson, who completed 9-of-10 passes for 129 yards, hit wide receiver ZaQuandre White on a 29-yard touchdown pass with 10:27 left in the game to cap an 86-yard drive in 19 plays to give the Dolphins a 13-12 lead, and the Raiders had their first deficit of the preseason.
After Carlson’s second field goal of the game, the other coming from 37 yards, gave the lead back to the Raiders, Thompson was driving Miami goalward again when the Las Vegas defense stiffened and forced Sanders’ missed field goal attempt after he made kicks of 46 and 57 yards earlier in the game.
Quarterback Jarrett Stidham appeared to solidify himself as the backup behind Derek Carr when he drove the Raiders 75 yards in 12 plays following the opening kickoff, with running back Zamir White scoring from two yards out to give the Silver and Black a 7-0 lead with 9:08 left in the first quarter.
White’s touchdown came one play after Stidham hit wide receiver Keelan Cole with an 18-yard pass tow the two-yard-line, as Stidham completed 5-of-7 passes on the drive and 7-of-10 for 80 yards while playing only the first quarter.
“We wanted to come out with a lot of energy and get some early momentum with the first drive on offense, and we did that with the help of a fourth down conversion, and we got ahead early,” Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels said.
“Then, we also wanted to put an emphasis on being tough on the ball this week and our defense did that. We were active and took the ball away a couple of times. We had some momentum early and were able to control the game somewhat for a while.”
The Dolphins actually outgained the Raiders, 344 yards to 289, thanks to Thompson’s passing in the second half, as Miami finished with 303 yards passing to 145 for Las Vegas. However, the Raiders rushed for 144 yards while holding the Dolphins to 37.
And the Raiders made three huge defensive plays.
Bridgewater was being sacked in the end zone by linebacker Curtis Bolton and threw the ball away, which brought an intentional grounding call and a safety that gave the Raiders at 9-3 lead with 9:13 left in the second quarter.
Then, right before halftime, Bridgewater hit running back Myles Gaskin with a short pass, but rookie cornerback Sam Webb knocked the ball away before picking it up and was running untouched toward the end zone. However, it was first ruled an incomplete pass, only to have replay overturn it to a fumble, but since the whistle had blown, Webb was denied his touchdown.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, Bridgewater and the Dolphins went for it on fourth-and-seven on the Raiders 20-yard-line, but defensive ends Tashawn Bower and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Tagovailoa’s cousin, sacked him to end the threat.
Webb and rookie linebacker Luke Masterson led the Raiders with six tackles apiece, while Bower had five including two tackles for losses, with rookie linebacker Darien Butler and safety Matthias Farley each made four stops.
The Raiders will wrap up the preseason next Friday at 5:25 p.m. (PDT) when they host the New England Patriots, McDaniels’ former team, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas after holding joint practices with the Patriots during the week.
Then the Silver and Black will open the 2022 NFL regular season when they travel to Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., to face their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers, at 1:25 p.m. (PDT) on Sunday, Sept. 11.
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