NFL 2017: Who plays on Sunday Night Football in Week 9?
Sunday Night Football features an AFC matchup where one team is underachieving the other has been having issues at quarterback from Day 1.
This week’s edition of Sunday Night Football on NBC showcases an Oakland Raiders team that has battled some injuries and haven’t lived up to their Super Bowl aspirations from the start of the year. On the other side, the host Miami Dolphins have four wins, but issues at quarterback continue to creep up this season.
In their most recent game last Thursday night, the Dolphins were like a fish out of water in a 40-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, so this week they will try to avenge that primetime embarrassment with another chance on the national primetime stage when they host the Raiders.
Miami is third in the AFC East standings at 4-3, and the Dolphins are ranked 30th or worse in four major offensive categories, including points scored per game (32nd), yards per game (32nd), passing yards per game (30th) and rushing yards per game (31st).
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What is keeping Miami competitive for most of this season is their seventh-place ranked defense, with all four major categories ranked within the Top 15, including seventh place in total yards allowed per game at 306.3.
Then there are the Oakland Raiders and their roller coaster of a season where they are last place in the AFC West at 3-5. Derek Carr missed action earlier this season, but even when he’s on the field, at times the Raiders just don’t look like the team from one year ago.
The Raiders are nowhere close to where they and many others assumed they would be at this point of the NFL season, but their rushing game hasn’t been there in 2017 with an 88 yards per game average, and the offense total is 19th in scoring per game (21.1) and 20th in yards per game (317.8).
The Raiders have already lost three of their past four games, but a win against a tough Kansas City Chiefs team a couple weeks ago shows they still are capable of battling for the AFC West.
Next: NFL: 5 Teams on upset alert in Week 9
Oakland can ill afford to lose many more games from here on out, but the same can be said for the Dolphins. One of these two teams will see their playoff chances take a hit, while the other will be in a better spot at the conclusion of Week 9.
Sunday Night Football airs on NBC with a kickoff at 8:30 p.m. ET.