The bye week may turn out to be the high point of the Raiders season.
For the second straight week, they were pushed around up front on both sides of the ball. This time, it was an ornery Dolphins team that waxed Oakland 33-17.
It was only a one score game for most of the contest, but it didn’t look that close. The Raiders didn’t have a drive longer than four plays until midway through the fourth quarter. The Dolphins missed a few field goals and survived a Jacoby Ford kickoff return touchdown by running straight through Oakland’s defense.
Ricky Williams rushed 20 times for 95 yards and a score, while Ronnie Brown rushed 24 times for 85 yards. Chad Henne threw for 307 yards and two scores in his return to the lineup. The Dolphins gained 471 total yards, to just 263 by Oakland. Darren McFadden had two rushing yards on eight carries.
In first place just two weeks ago, the 5-6 Raiders are now two games back in the AFC West. Their season will essentially be on the line in San Diego next week.
The Dolphins, now 6-5, continue to bounce back from devastating losses. Henne deserves a lot of credit for returning so quickly from his knee injury and playing well. His return gives the team life.
On Sunday, Miami played like the team not ready to be written off just yet. The Raiders played like the team we’ve seen too often over the last decade.