The Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins face off on Saturday in an NFL preseason Week 2 NFL showdown at Hard Rock Stadium. When these two teams faced off in September of 2021 it was the Raiders that secured the 31-28 victory in overtime.
The Raiders are one of two teams in the NFL to have already played two preseason games, and they have secured wins in each of the games. In the first game, the Raiders defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-11. In the last game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Raiders won 26-20. Derek Carr still hasn’t seen the field yet in the preseason. One of the biggest battles in the preseason is who will be Carr’s backup, and in the last game, there were three players who took snaps. Jarrett Stidham completed 10 of his 15 passes for 68 yards. Nick Mullens completed 7 of his 9 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Chase Garbers completed 2 of his 3 passes for 19 yards Garbers really isn’t in the competition for backup quarterbacks, right now he is probably just trying for a spot on the roster or practice squad.
On the other side of this matchup is the Dolphins who have a ton of questions heading into this game, and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel isn’t giving a whole lot of hints about what might happen in this game. Tua Tagovailoa has struggled in practice this week and he has made it clear that he wants to play in this game. In the first preseason game the Dolphins faced off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they were able to win 26-24. In that first game, Skylar Thompson completed 20 of his 28 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. Lynn Bowden Jr had a big game having three catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
The Raiders have looked good so far in the preseason because of the offense, and I expect it will continue here. The Dolphins gave up 24 points in the last game and the Raiders are going to get strong quarterback play in this game. Look for the Raiders to score at least 24 points and they will cover the spread.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
Mitch's Take...
