Raiders botch finish, hand Dolphins victory

Three takeaways from the Raiders’ 26-25 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium:

1. Situational football is the difference

The talent level throughout the NFL is so close that many games come down to which teams handle situational football best.

The Raiders and Dolphins were both at their best and worst in such situations Saturday, with four lead changes in the final 3:37 a combination of great offensive plays and defensive mistakes.

Ultimately, it came down to the Raiders in position to secure a 25-23 win, only to see them fail to keep the Dolphins, who had only 19 seconds to work with, out of field goal range.

From the Dolphins’ 25-yard line, Ryan Fitzpatrick completed a 34-yard pass and was grabbed on the face mask by the Raiders’ defensive end Arden Key on the play. The extra 15 yards put the Dolphins in field goal range for Jason Sanders, who converted the 44-yard kick to complete the improbable comeback win.

It was the Raiders who won with a situation football goof that cost the New York Jets’ defensive coordinator his job. This lost cost the Raiders whatever slim hopes they had at a playoff.

It was a brutal way to lose and a tough lesson to take into the offseason.

2. This is Carr’s team

If the Raiders were truly interested to find out what they had in backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, he should have received the start over the hobbled Derek Carr (groin injury).

That coach Jon Gruden ran Carr out there should be a sign that he is completely sold on him as the starter.

Not that he shouldn’t be. Carr has more than justified being the franchise quarterback. He turned in an admirable performance against a tough Dolphins defense, with 336 yards passing and a 104.5 QB rating.

But the decision to start Carr means the Raiders should move on from Mariota and use the $10 million they would pay him next season to address areas of need because that money is not guaranteed.

3. Marinelli for DC?

The expectation is the Raiders will conduct a national search for their next defensive coordinator, but he might already be on their staff.

Rod Marinelli is handling the job in an interim role after Paul Guenther was fired Dec. 13, and this was his first game with ample time to prepare for an opponent. Marinelli’s debut as the interim came on a short week against the Los Angeles Chargers.

His defensive game plan against the Dolphins was top notch, forcing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to check down throughout the game and making him indeed look like a rookie, prompting the Dolphins to eventually send him to the sideline. He threw for just 94 yards through three-plus quarters and and was sacked three times.

Marinelli sent a mixture of blitzers and kept the young quarterback confused. The Raiders also held the Dolphins to 130 yards rushing just a week after Miami ran for 250 yards against the New England Patriots.

The Raiders didn’t have answers for backup Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he’s made big plays against a lot of teams.

Marinelli knows the job. He was the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears from 2010 to 2012 and the Dallas Cowboys from 2014 to 2019, as well as the Detroit Lions’ head coach from 2006 to 2008.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.