In the first half of their Sunday Night Football game against the Dolphins, the Raiders committed eight penalties for 80 yards ... Miami quarterback Jay Cutler completed his first 16 pass attempts ... and Oakland still had the lead at halftime.
The NFL is weird. But this game was entertaining.
The Raiders made more plays in a 27-24 win at Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida.
Despite their issues in the first half Oakland made a few splash plays. Quarterback Derek Carr found Johnny Hilton for a 44-yard touchdown pass and safety Karl Joseph stripped a ball from Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake for a turnover when Miami was in the Red Zone to help the Raiders lead 13-9 at the break, which is a bit amazing when you consider Cutler’s only incompletion came on his final passing attempt of the half.
In the third quarter Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch started to get loose. Lynch took off on a 22-yard touchdown run, the longest of his Raiders career, to give Oakland a 20-9 lead. The Dolphins answered right back when Cutler led a 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 6-yard pass to Jarvis Landry, cutting the lead to 20-16.
After that the teams traded punts for most the of the night. Oakland put it away in the 4th quarter when Lynch got in the end zone again, this time from the 3-hard-line.
The Dolphins scored with 1:32 to play on Cutler’s third TD pass of the night but when the Raiders recovered the onside kick attempt they were able to run out the clock.
Local
The Raiders hit their bye week with a 4-5 record. Their next game with be a big one, in Mexico City against the defending champion Patriots.
