The Oakland Raiders are in a wonderful and unfamiliar position—first place in the AFC West.
They have not sniffed the top of the division in the month of December for quite some time—2002.
Oakland controls its own destiny. To remain the leaders of the West, the Raiders (7-4) will have to stave off the infectious Denver Broncos (6-5), who currently reside one game out of first place.
But Oakland’s schedule appears favorable during the NFL’s crunch time of December. Of their remaining five games, two have winning records—Green Bay (Week 14) and Detroit (Week 15).
On the flip side, the other three opponents have 11 wins combined (Miami, Kansas City, San Diego.)
One thing the Raiders should not be doing this week is overlooking their matchup on the road against Miami. It might be easy to look past the patsy Dolphins (3-8) and chomp at the bit to face the Packers the following weekend, but the Raiders need to concentrate on what and who is in front of them.
While the ‘Fins have been drowning in the AFC East, they have shown as of late that they are a competitive team not to be taken lightly. Miami was not so sunny when it lost starting quarterback Chad Henne in Week 4. But the Dolphins have shown tremendous improvement and competitiveness with Matt Moore filling in.
In their past six games, they have gone 3-3, with their three losses coming by a combined seven points. During their three-game win streak (stopped by Dallas on Thanksgiving Day), Miami throttled both the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills at home.
Obviously those teams are not the upstanding representatives of the league but it does suggest the difficulty in playing on the road in Miami, despite a less-than-captivated crowd. And with the nothing-to-lose mentality, the Dolphins are certainly a threat to make the Raiders stumble, if Oakland is not careful.
What should the Raiders be wary of exactly?
During the past six games, Miami has been stingy against the run, holding opponents to an average of 66.0 yards per game. Setting up more third-and-long situations, the Dolphins have steadily held down the fort, allowing only a 31.4 percent conversion rate on third down during that time.
The Raiders will have to find a way to utilize the passing game early to set up the run. In an effort to neutralize Miami’s front line, quarterback Carson Palmer will have to use a lot of play-action passes.
Hopefully this will provide running back Michael Bush—or Darren McFadden, if he’s healthy—with gaping holes midway through the game. Nevertheless, the Oakland receiving corps better be ready to step up this weekend.
Defensively, the Raiders should not ignore Moore at quarterback. Obviously the rigors of stepping in to the quarterback position are difficult. But Moore has progressed and has a decent 87.8 quarterback rating for the season. His last game against Dallas saw him complete 19 of 32 passes for 288 yards.
If the Raiders play their game they should be able to beat the Dolphins handily. But in order to do so, they must not look behind them, over their shoulders, at the oncoming Denver Broncos. And they must not look ahead at facing a potentially undefeated Green Bay squad.
Instead, Oakland has to pay attention and focus on what’s right in front of them.
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