Oakland Raiders fans came out in forces today in London and the team responded with a beautiful opening drive for them. That first drive was 10 plays, 74 yards and included Derek Carr going 4 of 5 for 56 yards while completing passes to 4 different receivers. There even was an immediate catch from new Raider Vincent Brown, a one handed diving catch from James Jones and the first TD of TE Brian Leonhardt's career.
A long run by Lamarr Miller helped the Dolphins get a 41 yard field goal in their opening drive making the score 7-3. The Raiders still had a nice rhythm going but they failed to convert a 3rd and 1 which resulted in a Marquette King punt. After that Miami shredded the Raiders defense after that to take the lead 10-7 on a TD pass from Ryan Tannehill to Mike Wallace. There was absolutely no pass rush by the Raiders throughout that entire drive by the Dolphins.
The pass rush was not a problem for the Dolphins though once they returned to the field. They almost caused a deflected pass interception on one play and they had a sack on another to force a 3 and out from the Raiders. Going from the beauty of that opening drive to down 10-7 with the Dolphins getting the ball back again is a pretty demoralizing experience, to say the least.
The Dolphins domination would continue unfortunately. Ryan Tannehill did not miss a single pass on their next drive and the running game gashed huge holes. To add insult to injury, this TD came on a 4th and inches sweep run to the outside by Lamarr Miller. Just like that it went from 7-0 Raiders to 17-7 Dolphins.
Latavaius Murray decided to try and bring the kickoff out of the end zone which was a terrible decision that left the Raiders starting their drive near the 10 yardline. A stuffed run attempt up the middle, a short pass for no gain, and an ill advised pass attempt that left Marcel Reece hanging out to dry was all the Raiders could muster out of their drive. Luckily, the Dolphins return man fumbled the punt and long snapper John Condo recovered it.
Unfortunately the Raiders did the opposite of take advantage of the good fortune. The first play was a 15 yard loss on an intentional grounding by Derek Carr, followed by a fumble by Vincent Brown that was recovered by James Jones for a loss of 2. They threw short on third down and ended the drive with another King punt.
Ryan Tannehill's completion streak continued when the Dolphins got the ball back. He was supposedly on the verge of being benched before this game but apparently all he needed was to face the Raiders defense. His 14th straight completion was his 2nd TD of the game and the catch by the Dolphins tight end Clay made the score 24-7. It was a 9 play, 90 yard drive and is making this game the type of embarrassment that could cost Dennis Allen his job.
Thankfully, the Raiders final drive of the half at least was not a 3 and out. They got one first down before the punt this time. The punt was great and the Dolphins kneeled down the rest of the clock afterwards. The score at halftime is Raiders 7 and Dolphins 24, it was as ugly as the score sounds.
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