Miami Dolphins Fall to Las Vegas Raiders in Lopsided Week 1 Loss

Despite missing star tight end Brock Bowers to injury, and new quarterback Kirk Cousins playing sometimes careless ball, the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins 27-13 on Sunday, covering the spread by 11 points. Those still holding Ashton Jeanty stock after last year’s difficult rookie season were rewarded with an electrifying afternoon on the ground and in the air, totaling nearly 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 touches.

Miami’s defense capitalized on two errant Cousins passes with interceptions but was otherwise incapable of slowing down either the run or pass.

Miami’s defensive difficulties began early, with six of the Raiders’ first seven offensive snaps producing positive yardage. That 16-play, 93-yard opening drive took nearly nine minutes of gametime off the clock and ended in a touchdown.

Short and intermediate coverage was poor from a young Dolphins secondary much maligned by national media coming into the season. Worryingly, general tackling and front-seven gap discipline were also lacking.

First year Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, previously offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks, maintains playcalling duties in his new role, deploying several looks familiar to those who watched last year’s Seahawks.

The Raiders attacked the outside edge in the run game, often from compact formations. From similar formations, or unbalanced-WR deployments, Kubiak schemed up multiple free releases for receivers and tight ends from slot alignments.

A balanced mix of run and pass perfectly suited Cousins, who distributed efficiently in the short to intermediate game, besides his turnovers.

Offensively, Miami’s performance was better, though not inspiring. First and foremost, Devon Achane remains one of the league’s most dynamic weapons. His quickness, evasiveness, and top-end speed nearly overshadow his tremendous vision and patience as a ball carrier.

Circumstances, namely Vegas’ early lead, led Miami’s offense away from maximum Achane involvement, but he showed flashes of his previous brilliance across 15 touches. Similarly, new quarterback Malik Willis displayed the dynamism and mobility fans hoped for when he joined the team as a free agent this offseason.

The Dolphins’ most productive rusher on the day, he confirmed that opponents will have to account for him both as a designed runner and scrambler. For an offense lacking big name receiving talent, that is a valuable schematic wrinkle alongside the Pro Bowler Achane.

Dolphins fans likely winced though, seeing Willis absorb unnecessary contact multiple times throughout the game, including on a play-faked QB draw look in the second quarter where the Raiders sold out against the call. Later in the same quarter, the Raiders similarly keyed on a heavy formation strong-side run on third-and-short, stuffing Achane for a one-yard loss.

It will be difficult to definitively say whether Miami’s much maligned offensive line has taken a step forward this season if opponents continue to load the box.

Through the air, the Dolphins looked like a team with two rookies listed as starting receivers on the depth chart.

Chris Bell managed one reception for 25 yards, while Caleb Douglas led the team in both receptions (5) and yards (94).

Miami’s second offensive drive, a three-and-out, stalled on second down as the Raiders defense forced a coverage sack. This was the first of multiple instances where Willis passed up potential scramble production seeking to work the ball downfield.

Given Miami’s competitive expectations this season, Willis taking what is literally in front of him might be a note from film review this week.

Importantly, the passing offense did show some flashes of schematically sound production, with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik deploying multiple Shanahan-tree tricks lauded by the analytics community. Late in the second quarter, Douglas enjoyed a free release out of the slot from bunch, making good with a 14-yard gain on third down and critically stopping the clock.

The previous drive, a play action bootleg left tight end Greg Dulcich open for a 6-yard gain on first down. Managing only thirteen points against one of last season’s lesser defenses will not inspire plaudits for the Dolphins offense, but the talent and building blocks necessary for offensive production showed themselves this week.

Elsewhere, the Dolphins’ special teams struggles continued from last season, as the Raiders enjoyed quality punt and kickoff returns. While Riley Patterson’s missed third quarter field goal likely would not have changed the outcome of the game, it was a deflating failure to capitalize on excellent field possession from Jaylen Wright’s 79-yard kick return.

In his head coaching debut, Jeff Hafley made several fourth quarter decisions which aggressively minded analysts will find disappointing, given Miami’s two touchdown deficit. Based on today’s outcomes elsewhere, including the Jets vs Titans game, it is possible the Dolphins will be underdogs across all 16 remaining games, in which case Hafley and his staff should search for every possible competitive edge, including hyper-aggressive fourth down decision-making.

On the topic of results elsewhere in the NFL, this is when all football fans should remind themselves that Week 1 is always, for lack of a better term, weird.

Within recent memory, odd Week 1 results include an excellent Bills team losing to a mediocre Jets team in 2023, a potent Bengals offense completely misfiring against a poor Patriots team in 2024, and the eventual AFC Champion Patriots surrendering over 400 yards of offense to the Geno Smith led Raiders in 2025.

So, Miami’s shortcomings against Las Vegas are all potentially complete flukes, quickly correctible errors, or crippling deficiencies; and only time will tell.

For now, Miami is onto San Francisco, another 4:25 eastern time kickoff next Sunday, and a potentially long season.