The plan for the Oakland Raiders was set some years ago when Raiders owner Al Davis declared, “Some teams take what the other team gives them; we take what we want.”
The Raiders began their AFC divisional playoff game Saturday against the Miami Dolphins by taking the ball from the Miami offense. They finished it just after halftime by taking the heart from the Dolphins and shutting them out 27-0.
“We went into the Black Hole and couldn’t get out,” said defensive tackle Daryl Gardener, referring to more than the Raiders’ fans section in the south end zone.
The Raiders’ 17th-ranked defense trampled the NFL’s third-stingiest defense for 20 points in the game’s first 37 minutes, including an interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Tory James on the Dolphins’ fourth play from scrimmage. That interception virtually put the Raiders in the AFC championship game. “We felt that we had to start fast,” said Miami coach Dave Wannstedt, coaching in the playoffs for the first time since taking the Bears to the postseason in 1994. “Guys came out with that mind-set and the turnover really deflated us.”
The Dolphins have been outscored 127-10 in playoff defeats the last three seasons.
The end of whatever hope the Dolphins still held came early in the second half. The Raiders drove 54 yards in 12 plays for the touchdown that put them up 27-0. Along the way the Dolphins broke, in spirit and body, with middle linebacker and linchpin Zach Thomas limping off the field midway through the third quarter with an injured knee.
To finish the drive, the Raiders simply inserted 310-pound tackle Matt Stinchcomb as a tight end and ran tailback Tyrone Wheatley behind him for the final 2 yards.
The touchdown was the first this season allowed by the Dolphins in a third quarter, an NFL first. The Raiders’ point total was second only to the 40 the New York Jets scored against the Dolphins in an overtime game.
“I think that first drive of the third quarter, when the offense came out and took the ball right down the field and scored on a defense that hadn’t allowed a touchdown in the third quarter all year, was a big point in the game,” said Raiders coach Jon Gruden. “Games are about making plays and the guys made them all the way down the field.”
The Raiders were the NFL’s leading rushing team in 2000, with 154.4 yards per game. Keeping with Davis’ philosophy, they ran the ball and didn’t particularly care whether the Dolphins knew they were going to.
Seven Raiders carried the ball on the way to netting 102 yards through three quarters.
The Raiders’ defense turned the Dolphins into something they had hoped to avoid becoming: a passing team. Miami threw the ball fewer times than any NFL team last season and advanced with a wild-card win on the strength of tailback Lamar Smith’s running.
But Smith, who gained 209 yards on 40 carries in Miami’s win over Indianapolis last weekend, carried eight times for four yards against the Raiders.
What the Raiders couldn’t do the Dolphins did for them. Two first-half turnovers resulted in 14 Oakland points and two penalties on the Miami defense contributed to 3 more.
After a 46-yard punt return put Miami’s first starting point at the Oakland 41, quarterback Jay Fiedler threw directly into the arms of cornerback James at the Raiders 10 and James went untouched down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown return, the longest in Raiders playoff history. James would drive a second stake into the Dolphins with a fourth-quarter interception.
Not to be outdone, the Miami defense made sure the Raiders had the chances they needed to add to that lead on Oakland’s second possession. An incomplete pass was converted to a first down by one holding call, then a sack by defensive end Jason Taylor was nullified by a second holding call. The two first downs by penalty led to a Sebastian Janikowski field goal for a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
A fumble by Lamar Smith on the Dolphins’ next possession was turned into a touchdown that put Oakland up 20-0 at halftime.
The Raiders now wait to see whether they will be host to the Baltimore Ravens or visit the Tennessee Titans in their first AFC championship game since 1990, when they were obliterated 51-3 by the Buffalo Bills.
