Dolphins @ Raiders: Miami show why they just love to travel

Miami are great on the road. They seem to thrive off playing in front of an opposition crowd and were simply the better team in this one. Although Oakland hung in there in the first half, the win never really looked in jeopardy for the Dolphins who advance to 6-5 on the season.

The deafening crowd at the Coliseum seemed to have little effect on the miraculously cured Chad Henne, who took advantage of sloppy turnovers from the rusty Bruce Gradkowski upon his return to the starting position.

The once highly acclaimed running game from Bush and McFadden has fallen flat on its face, much like the Oakland defence who cannot stop the run or the pass if the last two weeks are anything to go by. They even had Nnamdi Asomugha back in to supply pro bowl coverage, but this did not stop Ricky Williams from adding insult to injury when making the score line look even more grim for the Raiders right at the end.

Oakland’s main let down was their inability to establish the running game enough, mainly due to Miami’s defence. We all know that when a team establishes the run, like Atlanta did against Green Bay, it opens up the passing game and leaves teams open to play action fakes and draws for potential big gains. Oakland became one-dimensional and it wasn’t as if that dimension was even doing them any good! This is a team that needs to begin firing on all cylinders again, to reference the words of the Oakland safety, Tyvon Branch.

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Oakland made Miami look like a house on defence. Kendall Langford was working against Carlisle and reduced the time that the out of rhythm Gradkowski had in the pocket, thus forcing him to make errors. At this point, the only glimmer of hope seemed to be Jacoby Ford.

It is definitely true that if the Raiders can take any positives from this game, it is that this rookie is consistent, athletic, fearless and very very reliable. He epitomises the ‘go-to’ receiver and is always there on 3 rd down to make a play. He excelled in the game against Kansas City where Oakland were able to top the AFC West and he seems comfortable receiving the ball from either Gradkowski or Jason Campbell. Tom Cable has likened his explosiveness to that of Darren McFadden and I definitely agree.

Despite losing the last two, with the likes of Ford and McFadden the Raiders are able to score points from anywhere on the field, making this ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ team one to watch for the rest of the season.

They travel to San Diego on the 5 th, which will be another crunch game for both teams and I will be doing a pre-game analysis in the next few days. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Final Score: 33- 17

By: Tom Greenhalgh
ProFootball-fans.com Oakland Raiders Correspondent