Oakland Raiders: 3 Big takeaways from loss vs. Dolphins in Week 3

The Offense improves in passing game

The offense immediately became more dynamic with the presence of Bryant. The evidence? Jordy Nelson’s two big plays. The big plays by Nelson were available because the Dolphins decided to play one safety and stack the box against the run. The threat of Bryant forced the single high safety to cheat toward him. Nelson was on the other side and took advantage of the one on one match up.

The Dolphins eventually adjusted using two safeties high. This opened the box for running back Marshawn Lynch. Somebody will point out that Lynch had 19 carries for 64 yards for an average of 3.4 yards a carry. But this still misses the point that the threat of the run is opening plays. For example, Doug Martin had 9 carries for 43 yards for an average of 4.8 yards per carry.

But the real impact of the running game can be found in the passing game. The Raiders offense excels when running a quick passing offense. The offense is designed to have the ball out of quarterback Derek Carr’s hands quickly. When Carr gets rid of the ball quickly he is highly accurate leading to yards after the catch, see Jordy Nelson.

The problem for Carr arises when he has to throw the ball deep. Carr is inaccurate on deep passes. But when the deep ball is an existing threat, the short pass designed to get yards after the catch is a potent weapon.