Miami Beats Oakland 38-14: Three Thing We Learned

Sometimes words do nothing more than harm an athlete’s ego. It is possible the words spoken by Miami Dolphins’ head coach Joe Philbin did nothing more than inspire quarterback Ryan Tannehill to play his best game of the early NFL season.

The 38-14 win over the Oakland Raiders in London proved these Dolphins have some life in them and more important, it showed Tannehill is still the best chance for this team to reach the playoffs. Earlier in the week, banter between the quarterback and coach led to a media swarm that depicted an angry coaching who called out his signal caller when the two could have met behind closed doors.

In the middle of a storm all week because his coach declined to endorse him as the starter, Tannehill threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, leading the Miami Dolphins to a 38-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders at Wembley Stadium. This, according to the Associated Press.

Tannehill took advantage of a depleted Oakland defense to snap a two-game losing streak for the Dolphins (2-2).

The Raiders (0-4) scored on their opening drive but struggled after that. And starting quarterback Derek Carr was injured in the third quarter, replaced by third-stringer Matt McGloin.

Here is what we learned from Sunday’s win.

BETTER EFFICIENCY

This was Tannehill at his best.

Ryan Tannehill completed 17 of his 19 passes (89.5 percent) in the 1st half Sunday, the highest completion percentage in any half in his career (previous high was 85.7 percent in 2nd half of 2012 Week 15 game).

WHEN IT RAINS…

The Raiders (0-4) scored on their opening drive but struggled after that. And starting quarterback Derek Carr was injured in the third quarter, replaced by third-stringer Matt McGloin.

Oakland began the game without linebackers Nick Roach and Sio Moore, who were both inactive. Kaluka Maiava, who started in place of Moore, was then injured on the first Dolphins series, allowing Tannehill and his receivers to take even more advantage of the short pass.

Things got worse for the Raiders when Carr injured his left ankle and knee in the third quarter and was replaced by McGloin. Backup Matt Schaub did not make the trip to London.

On his second play, McGloin watched a bad snap fly by and then saw Finnegan snatch it up and run it in.

The Raiders have lost 10 straight dating to last season, putting the pressure on Coach Dennis Allen.

MORE FROM WEMBLEY

The Dolphins are now 1-1 at Wembley Stadium, the home of England's national soccer team. Miami lost the first regular-season NFL game played there in 2007, falling to the New York Giants 13-10.

Sunday's matchup was the first of three NFL games at Wembley this season. The Detroit Lions will face the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 26, and the Dallas Cowboys will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 9.