With just second remaining in the first quarter, the Raiders were down 14-0 to the Dolphins. The first TD came on a pick-six from Derek Carr to Dolphins LB Elandon Roberts. The second TD the old fashioned way; on a run up the middle from 24 yards out.
A safety at the end of the first quarter gave the Raiders their first points. A drive for a field goal made it a 14-5 games. But things really got moving on the next drive and it was Henry Ruggs who got them moving.
Two catches in particular were just the kind of plays the Raiders offense needed to jumpstart things.
The first was a pass to Ruggs who was running a cross from right to left with All Pro cornerback Xavien Howard defending. The Carr pass looked dangerous, but Ruggs went up and took the ball away from Howard.
“To me it was just me making a play. Me being me,” Ruggs said of the catch over Howard. “I went up to get it because I didn’t want to give him time to get back and cover it.”
“He had man coverage on one of the best corners in the NFL,” Derek Carr said of Ruggs vs Howard. “Henry went up, I gave him a chance to make the play, I didn’t want to overthrow him, so I just threw it kind of at him and let him go up and get it. But he’s proven that as well as he runs (horizontally), he plays a vertical game too. I’m sure you’ve seen some of his basketball highlights, the guy’s unbelievable at going up and getting the ball.”
That catch went for 23 yards to put the Raiders in Miami territory at the 48. Carr and the offense would keep it moving, driving into field goal range. Then on third-and-three, Ruggs made an even better catch along the sideline, leaping in the air to make the grab over Jevon Holland, keeping his feet inbounds and holding onto it while getting hit.
Derek Carr said that play was set up by an earlier missed play that Ruggs learned from.
“We kind of ran the same play earlier in the game and he was trying to win with speed like he should and I tried to throw it at him,” said Carr. “When we came to the sideline, he said ‘hey, I completely saw what you saw, so if they do that again, I’ll be ready.’ We ran that play again, it was kind of a similar look, so he looked at me and so we hit it that time. That’s just an in-game adjustment for a young receiver saying ‘I saw what you saw and now just trust me and I’ll get it next time.’ When I threw it I thought I threw it too high and he just went up and got it and made the play.”
The catch went for 21 yards to put the Raiders at the 8-yard-line with a roughing penalty on Holland for a late hit that put the Raiders in first-and-goal at the four. Two plays later, the Raiders scored their first touchdown.
The score brought the Raiders back to within two points, down 14-12.
While the safety may have been the turning point in the game, the Raiders don’t take the lead in the third quarter without those two incredible catches by Ruggs, laying the groundwork for the offense to once again pull out a late, come-from-behind win.
The game would end up going to overtime, where it was fellow second-year receiver Bryan Edwards who took the baton, coming up with two huge long catches to help the Raiders pull it out.
Gruden says he sees a change in the two young receivers.
“Both of those guys had big days today against one of the better secondaries in pro football,” Gruden said of Ruggs and Edwards. “The one thing for me is I see these young guys really come to life. I see a different look in their eyes. I see a different confidence. And now they’re starting to demand the ball, so they’re starting to get on my nerves a little bit. But they’re going to be a great duo with [Darren] Waller and some of the others.”
Carr added that the play of Ruggs and Edwards gives him more confidence to throw to them. You can trace that confidence right back to that first pass over the middle to Ruggs that got everything going. Ruggs rewarded Carr’s confidence with the big catch. Then he did it again with his in-game adjustment.
“The biggest thing is just I say we’re just comfortable,” Ruggs said of he and Edwards. “We’re more confident in our assignments and our jobs and just knowing who we are to help the team. I had a little fire behind me for this game, so I’m just ready to go.”
Ruggs wouldn’t say what that fire was, adding only that “some things were said” and that he “was just ready to play and prove who I was.”
He proved a lot to his team and everyone else for that matter. Whatever ‘fire’ Ruggs had behind him coming into this one, he should keep stoking it, because it’s clearly serving him well.