The Las Vegas Raiders had control of their playoff destiny going into their Week 14 clash with the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, as the run game once again disappeared for the Silver and Black.
It seems that Raiders running backs didn’t get the memo for this game. Rather, Josh Jacobs was more concerned with trolling fantasy football owners. The team needed to re-establish the run game in this contest, and once again it didn’t happen. We don’t want to make excuses for the Raiders’ offensive line but they have been regressing in the running game department these past few weeks. If the team plans on keeping their playoff hopes alive, they’ll need to get it going again. Teams with reliable run games are the ones that win in January.
As far as yesterday’s contest, it was a story of two different teams when it came to the run game. The Raiders didn’t have anyone get near the 100-yard mark while the Colts had one run eclipse Jacobs’ total production.
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Jacobs could only muster 49 rushing yards behind his offensive line off on 13 carries. Backup running back Devontae Booker only saw four carries yesterday which was only two more than Jalen Richard’s pair of touches. It was actually Raiders quarterback Derek Carr that had the only rushing touchdown in this contest.
By comparison, the Colts had a total of 212 rushing yards, demolishing now ex-coordinator Paul Guenther’s run defense. Jonathan Taylor broke off a morale-crushing 62-yard run that went for a touchdown. Nyheim Hines also made the most of his touches, amassed 58 yards on seven carries, and broke out a 31-yard run. Moving forward, the Raiders will need to get their running game going again but will also need to remember how to stop the run as well.
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*Top Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images