Miami Dolphins: 3 Takeaways vs. Raiders in Week 9

The Miami Dolphins came out looking like a different team tonight against the Oakland Raiders. It wasn’t enough though, as they come up short, 27-24.

It’s been a trying 10 days for the Miami Dolphins, and they came into tonight’s game against the Oakland Raiders looking to redeem themselves to some extent. Miami was embarrassed on a national stages last Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens, suffering their second shutout of the season — a loss which sparked several changes in the team, most notably the trade of running back Jay Ajayi.

Adam Gase was clear that this is his team. He’s going to run a certain offense. Things are going to be done his way, or they aren’t going to be done at all. That was the message he sent to the team, and it was received. Miami came out looking like a completely different team in their Sunday Night match-up against the Raiders. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the results weren’t much different. Miami played a tough, hard-fought game, but some costly penalties and mental errors ended up biting the team in the end.

Now the Dolphins come into the final half of their season looking at a .500 record and a brutal schedule remaining. Of their final eight games, four of them are against the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, with games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos sprinkled in for good measure. If the Dolphins are going to recover and make a playoff run, they’re going to need to play much better than they did tonight.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday night’s game.