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Dolphins defeat sorry Raiders

The Miami Dolphins breezed to a 38-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the first of this season's three NFL contests at Wembley.


Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 23 of his 31 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns as the Dolphins bounced back from two straight defeats to improve their record this season to 2-2.

Oakland (0-4) stated the game well but their defence was soon on the ropes and they were powerless to prevent a heavy defeat which will raise further questions over the future of head coach Dennis Allen.

“It was a great experience, coming all the way over here to London and getting the opportunity to score two touchdowns,” the Dolphins’ Lamar Miller, who grabbed a pair of rushing scores, told Sky Sports.

“It was worth it, we got a win so it’s going to be a good, long ride back home.

“I think we’ve got to build off this win. We had a good team win today and we’ve got to build off it going into our bye week.”

The Raiders took an early lead as quarterback Derek Carr orchestrated an impressive drive at the start of the first quarter, finishing it off with a three-yard touchdown pass to third-string tight end Brian Leonhardt.

Miami responded with a Caleb Sturgis field goal and ended the opening quarter on the front foot as Tannehill found wide receiver Brian Hartline on a 34-yard completion.

At the start of the second quarter Tannehill completed the drive with a short pass to Mike Wallace, who fought his way through a number of tackles to break the plane for a score which gave the Dolphins a 10-7 lead.

Miller then ran a fourth-down conversion all the way into the end zone to increase the lead by another seven points, Oakland’s porous defence proving just what the doctor ordered for the previously out-of-form Tannehill.

Another touchdown followed before half-time, Tannehill finding Dion Sims in the end zone for his 14th straight completion and second score of the game.


Oakland’s woes were compounded after the break when Brent Grimes intercepted Carr and returned the ball to the Raiders three-yard line. Miller punched in another touchdown shortly afterwards.

An injured Carr was eventually replaced by Matt McGloin but the new quarterback fared little better as he watched Dolphins cornerback Cortland Finnegan pick up a botched snap take the ball to the house for another touchdown.

McGloin and Tannehill then both threw interceptions off tipped passes before the former found Andre Holmes for a 22-yard consolation touchdown in the fourth quarter.