The Miami Dolphins will face off against the Las Vegas Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday at 4:05pm eastern time.

The Dolphins are coming off of one of their most disappointing performances in recent memory, losing to Buffalo at home by a score of 35-0. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa left the game after his second drive, sustaining a rib injury after a big hit. Brissett took over, but the offensive line was truly a liability to the health of whoever was behind center for Miami.

The Raiders on the other hand are red hot, coming off two impressive wins that have many fans excited that their investment in Derek Carr and Jon Gruden is finally paying off.

A look at the Dolphins

Offense

As a whole, the Dolphins offense has struggled. They are currently:

• Points per game: 32nd
• Yards per drive: 31st
• Rushing yards: 27th
• Passing yards: 30th
• Passes of 20+ yards: 31st
• Sacks allowed: 4th most
• Dropped passes: Most in NFL

The Dolphins offensively will be led by quarterback Jacoby Brissett, as Tagovailoa will miss this game with the rib injury.

Brissett is a six-year veteran, having some solid stints as a starting quarterback, namely with the Indianapolis Colts. In 2019, Brissett had his best season, recording 2,942 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions with the Colts. He would finish the season 7-8 as the team’s starter.

Last week, Brissett struggled. The offensive line gave him nothing to work with, and it was evident. Brissett was 2-for-6 with an interception on passes that traveled beyond 10 yards.

Teammates have offered praise to Brissett, with Eric Rowe saying that he could be a starter on a different team – and receiver Albert Wilson saying there won’t be much of a drop off from Tagovailoa to Brissett.

Last week’s game was marred by an atrocious performance from the offensive line. It’s been frequently said that in order for the rest of the offensive to have any success, the offensive line would have to improve.

A glimmer of hope exists with rookie tackle Liam Eichenberg, who has been one of the more reliable players despite not having the experience. Eichenberg is expected to be worked in as a permanent fixture for this offensive line, but it remains to be seen where. A report from Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson stated that the team was torn between using him as a guard or tackle, and at practice this week, he was used at both positions.

A looming question is what will happen with tackle Austin Jackson. Jackson has been the weakest link in this group, and is a liability to the health of whoever is behind center. Barry Jackson’s report mentioned that the Dolphins are discussing the possibility of moving from tackle to guard. The other option mentioned was that the Dolphins were going to give him another week at tackle to turn things around.

Regardless of whether he is at tackle or guard, Jackson will need to have a significant rebound in order to preserve his spot in the lineup at all.

Tackle Jesse Davis was limited at practice after suffering an injury in last week’s game. If Davis is unable to go, that will likely open the door for Robert Hunt to shift over to the tackle position. Davis, a veteran in the league, was abysmal last week as well. He mentioned this week that he felt guilty over surrendering the hit that led to Tagovailoa’s injury.

The Dolphins running game will be led by Myles Gaskin. Gaskin still leads the Dolphins in touches, but isn’t dominating the volume the same way he was last year. That could always change, but last week, Gaskin only had five carries, just as many as Malcolm Brown and one fewer than Salvon Ahmed.

Last time the Dolphins faced the Raiders, Gaskin had a career day. He would finish with 169 total yards, and two touchdowns, including a game-saving 59-yard touchdown catch and run.

The Dolphins receiver group will feature the return of Will Fuller this week, who left the team last week citing personal reasons.

Miami’s receivers struggled last week, having an uncharacteristic amount of drops. Albert Wilson recorded two drops – while Devante Parker, Jaylen Waddle, and Salvon Ahmed each had a drop.

The Dolphins currently lead the NFL in dropped passes.

Waddle had a productive outing last week, leading the team in receiving yards with a modest 48 yards. At this current pace, this puts Waddle in position to finish with just over 900 yards on the season. This is a very small sample size, but shows that Waddle is having a respectable immediate impact.

Receiver DeVante Parker currently leads the Dolphins in receiving yards with 123 yards.

Outside of Parker and Waddle, the rest of the Dolphins wide receiver unit has only managed to record 22 yards.

Tight end Mike Gesicki has been quiet this season. Gesicki, who struggles as a blocker, has seen his role slightly reduced. Despite being regarded as a premier talent as a receiving tight end, he has only managed three catches for 41 yards this season.

Defense

The Dolphins defense remains the strength of the team for now, having decent performances that were dependent on turnovers. They are currently tied for 4^th in the league in turnovers.

They still are on the higher-end of blitzing teams in the NFL, ranking third in the category with blitz sent on 41% of plays. Despite the high blitz rate, it hasn’t necessarily translated to quality pressure.

The Dolphins have only amassed two sacks this season, which is 31st in the NFL. Their 5.3% hurries per drop back is also in the bottom-eight of teams in the league.

They are currently allowing the fifth-most rushing yards per game. They have surrendered 18 first downs by rushing, third-most in the NFL.

The secondary, as expected, is one of the strongest areas of the team. They are allowing a completion percentage of 64%, 7^th-best in the league, and only 6.4 yards per pass attempt, which is 5^th-best in the league.

Cornerback Xavien Howard has created two turnovers on back-to-back weeks, proving that the Dolphins were wise to invest in him. Last week, Howard was targeted 8 times, resulting in only three completions and the interception.

The Dolphins front will have to do something to improve their game. The team gave up a 35-yard run to the Patriots on the first play in Week 1, and a 43-yard run to the Bills on the second play.

The Dolphins failed to record a tackle for a loss last week, and are 32^nd in the NFL in that stat, with only three on the season.

A look at the Raiders

Offense

The Raiders are first in the NFL in total yards per game. They are also 31^st in the NFL in rushing yards per game. Their 2.9 yards per carry is the worst in the league, showing how inefficient they are running the ball, while also showing how dependent they are on the pass game.

The Raiders are led offensively by quarterback Derek Carr. Carr is an eight-year veteran, and three-time Pro Bowler.

Carr is off to a tremendous start this season. He leads the NFL in passing yards by a wide-margin, with 817 yards (the next closest is Kyler Murray with 687.)

He has also thrown the ball the most times this season. His 93 attempts are tied with Jared Goff for the most in football.

The Raiders running back group is led by Josh Jacobs, who has amassed over 1,000 yards in his two previous seasons. Jacobs suffered an ankle injury and missed the Week 2 matchup vs Pittsburg. Gruden said Jacobs is “very questionable,” leading up to this game.

Jacobs is struggling this season, like the rest of the running game for Vegas. He has totaled 34 yards on 10 carries.

The other running back in this group is none other than Former-Dolphin Kenyan Drake. Drake produced well while with Arizona the past two seasons, nearing 1,000 yards last season while not being the feature back for the whole season.

Drake is not off to a great-start in his first year with Las Vegas. Drake has totaled 20 yards on 13 carries this season. He has been used primarily as the teams receiving back, recording over 100 yards receiving on 10 catches.

Coach Gruden apparently really likes Peyton Barber, who led the team in carries while Jacobs was out. Barber is a slower, more powerful runner who failed to average 3 yards per carry last year. Barber also struggled, recording only 32 yards on 13 carries last week.

The offensive line has been respectable against two menacing defenses in the Ravens and Steelers, in terms of pass protection. Carr has been able to stay relatively clean, but he deserves more of the praise for that. Carr leads the NFL in the amount of times he’s been hurried, but the amount of times he’s been hit is in the bottom quarter of starters.

Defense

The Raiders hired Gus Bradley to be the defensive coordinator during the offseason. Bradley’s defense’s have had the highest rate of cover-3 since 2018, per Pro Football Focus.

The Raiders added Casey Hayward to the secondary during the offseason. Hayward is a two-time second-team All Pro. So far, he’s off to a tremendous start,  surrendering only one completion on the five times he’s been targeted. He’s currently Pro Football Focus’ highest-rated cornerback.

Cornerback Trayvon Mullen is in his third-year. He has surrendered the most yards in this secondary, but has shown improvement in the Gus Bradley system. Mullen had an interception last week, and nearly had a second.

The Raiders have been great at causing pressure, as they are fifth in the league in pressures. However, they have been able to accomplish that without sending many blitzes. Their 4.9% blitz percentage is the lowest in the NFL.

Despite the low blitz percentage, the Dolphins’ offensive line will still have tough individual matchups against Maxx Crosby, Carl Nassib and Yannick Ngakuoe.

Expectations

Kenyan Drake has a revenge game to some degree. I’m personally a believer that coaches want to get their players some touches against a former team. Whether it’s to fire them up or the team, I believe there’s something real to the revenge game theory. With that in mind, I expect Drake to have some sort of impact. Whether it’s over 100 total yards if Jacobs can’t play, or just vulturing a touchdown, I think Gruden will give him a little extra in this game to work with.

The Dolphins connect on a few big plays along the sidelines. After watching the Ravens and Steelers face off against Las Vegas, it’s clear that the Raiders leave themselves vulnerable to the big passing play on one-on-one situations. Only the Chiefs have given up more passing plays of 40+ yards than the Raiders, and frankly, the Raiders also caught some lucky breaks. Whether Miami is forced to air it out or not, there should be at least an opportunity or two to capitalize with Fuller or Waddle on a deep pass.

Keys to the Victory

Limit Darren Waller. While last season, we saw the safeties, namely Eric Rowe do a fairly good job at neutralizing opposing tight ends, Rowe was exposed when he faced elite tight ends. Last year, Waller had five catches for 111 yards against Rowe. Travis Kelce had 136 yards and a touchdown. Waller is still very much in a league of his own at the tight end position, and the Raiders are somehow targeting him even more than last year. He will likely be a major focus in this game, and limiting him is the first step in slowing this offense.

Get the running backs involved – even in the passing game. Last year, Gaskin had a breakout performance. The Raiders last year surrendered the 4^th most total yards to the RB position. Getting the ground game going will be important, but incorporating Gaskin and Ahmed in the receiving game will also be crucial.

Allow Ahmed, or Gaskin, (personally leaning Ahmed in particular) to hit the hole in the inside runs. The Raiders weakness appears to be in the center of the field, as TySon Williams broke a big run through the middle, as did Lamar Jackson and Latavius Murray. But when Ahmed faced a Gus Bradley-led Chargers defense last year, he totaled 85 yards on 21 carries, 58 of those yards on runs to the inside. Run it up the gut with Ahmed.