Raiders 27, Dolphins 13 — Week 1: Five Sacks and a 93-Yard Drive

Las Vegas opened its season with the longest drive of the game: 16 plays, 93 yards, eight minutes 58 seconds, from its own seven to a 15-yard touchdown throw from Kirk Cousins to Jack Bech on third and four with one 38 left in the first quarter. The Raiders never trailed after it. 27 to 13, final, and Miami did not hold a lead for a single second. The game was tied for the 13 minutes before that drive ended and Las Vegas led for the other 46 and a half.

Start with the pass defense, because it is where the game was decided. Miami ran 32 pass plays for 220 passing yards, no touchdowns and one interception, and those plays cost the Dolphins nine expected points. Expected points added is what a snap was worth given the down, the distance and the field position; on defense a big negative number is the good direction, and −9 allowed ranks sixth of the 28 teams whose games were in the books by Sunday evening. 11 of the 32 were successful, meaning they gained what the situation asked for. That 34 percent is the second-best rate any defense posted this week. Five sacks for 35 yards, Kwity Paye in on three of them and Maxx Crosby on two, and three of the five came on third down. After halftime Miami's passing game went 18 pass plays for −13 expected points, three of them successful; in the fourth quarter, 13 pass plays, one successful. The interception was Treydan Stukes, at the Las Vegas 34, on a deep ball for Caleb Douglas with nine 49 left in the third, and the Raiders turned it into a 13-play, seven-minute drive and the field goal that made it 27 to 13. The stop that mattered most came on the next Miami possession: Miami had taken a 79-yard kickoff return to the Las Vegas 18, down 14, and on third and five from the 13 Nakobe Dean sacked Willis for a loss of 10. Riley Patterson missed the 41-yard field goal wide left, and the deficit stayed 14.

The run defense ranked higher still. 18 rushing plays allowed for 74 yards and one touchdown, −3 expected points allowed, fourth-best per rushing play of the 28, six of the 18 successful. The one touchdown was the one Miami scored all day: Willis, scrambling right end for 14 on second and 10 from the 14 with 12 52 left in the third, on the drive that started at the Miami 48 after Michael Taaffe's interception of Cousins. 17 to 13, and that was as close as it got. Miami had five snaps inside the Las Vegas 20 all afternoon, and one touchdown.

Now the offense, which was two different halves. In the first half, Las Vegas produced +11 expected points and scored 17. In the second half it produced −14 and scored 10, and in the fourth quarter it ran the ball eight times for zero yards and none of the eight was successful. For the day: 30 pass plays, a hundred 60 passing yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, no sacks taken, and roughly zero expected points added, 13 of the 30 successful. 34 rushing plays for a hundred 36 yards, seventh-most of the week, no rushing touchdowns, −3 expected points, 20-first of the 28 per rushing play, and 14 of the 34 successful. The two interceptions were both deep throws: Taaffe on the second snap of the second half, second and seven from the Las Vegas 38, intended for Bech; and Dante Trader Junior with 11 32 left in the game, second and 14 from the 41, intended for Jalen Nailor, returned to the 44. Miami scored seven off the first and nothing off the second.

What the offense did well was finish. 12 snaps inside the Miami 20 produced three touchdowns, all three of them throws: Bech from the 15, Ashton Jeanty from the 13 on third and eight with one 12 left in the half, and Jeanty from the 13 again on first and 10 with 10 oh six left in the third, on a five-play answer after Miami had cut the lead to four. The one trip that did not end in a touchdown was a first and goal from the 10 in the third quarter that went incomplete, −1, checkdown for four, and a 30-yard field goal after a made 25-yarder was wiped out by an offensive offside. Five of 12 on third down. And the decision that built the opening drive: fourth and one at the Miami 34 with four 29 left in the first quarter, Connor Heyward up the middle, ruled no gain, reversed on replay to one yard, six points of win probability, first down. Five snaps later Bech scored.

Two things in the ledger that were not good. Miami handed Las Vegas a first down on a third and 13 incompletion in the second quarter, a 15-yard taunting penalty on Julius Brents at the Raiders' 30, and Matt Gay's 47-yard field goal came out of that drive. And the passing game's success rate, 43 percent, was middle of the pack among the 28, with two interceptions on 30 throws.

Now the part where a Week 1 episode has to be honest about what it is. The ranks in this episode are against the 28 teams that had played by Sunday evening, not the whole league, and one game is one game. What there is, is last year. In 2025 this team went three and 14 with the worst offense in the league by expected points per play, thirtieth through the air, 30-second on the ground, 20-eighth on third down, and 20-seventh at turning red-zone trips into touchdowns. The defense finished twentieth in expected points allowed per play and second in the league at preventing explosive plays. On Sunday the offense was roughly two and a half expected points below zero, sixteenth of the 28, and it went three for four inside the 20. The defense allowed −12, sixth of the 28. If you want one sentence: the defense carried it, the offense was ordinary instead of last, and ordinary was enough against this opponent. Whether it is enough against the next one is the question.

Las Vegas is at the Chargers next Sunday. Watch the second-half run game, and watch whether the pass rush travels.

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_Data via nflverse._