What’s going on with running game?
Suddenly, yards hard to come by
With his Raiders facing a fourthand-one at their 45-yard line early in the first quarter against the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday, coach Jon Gruden didn’t hesitate to go for the first down.
The failure to convert set the tone for an ugly Raiders loss and illustrated the difficulty they’ve had getting their run game untracked the last two games, both losses.
Previously the strength of the offense, most notably during a threegame win streak in which they bullied opponents with 572 rushing yards and six touchdowns while averaging 5.1 yards per carry, the Raiders’ rushing attack has struggled the last two weeks, managing just 129 rushing yards. That includes the feeble 40 yards on 14 carries they produced in the 43-9 loss to the Falcons on Sunday.
The recent struggles raise questions on multiple levels. Have all the injuries along the Raiders’ offensive line finally caught up to them? Are opposing defenses getting a better feel for what they are doing? How healthy is star running back Josh Jacobs?
But perhaps the biggest question is, can the Raiders get their run-game groove back?
The ability to get back on track will go a long way in deciding the outcome of the Raiders’ playoff push.
To put it in perspective, in the Raiders’ six wins this year they rank seventh in the NFL with 965 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on 213 carries (4.5 yards per attempt) while averaging 160.8 yards per game.
In contrast, in their five losses, they rank 25th in the NFL with 417 yards and one touchdown on 109 carries
(3.8 ypa) while averaging 83.4 yards per game.
As the numbers show, when the Raiders are at their best, they control the line of scrimmage and play power football with a run game that does damage inside the tackles. In fact, the Falcons braced for exactly that on the fourth-down play, only for Gruden to opt for an outside run that Atlanta completely stuffed.
In making that call, Gruden might have tipped his hand that he still isn’t quite comfortable that fullback Alec Ingold, who is playing with two fractured ribs, is physically ready to be a dominant lead blocker and that Jacobs might not be 100 percent while dealing with a hip injury. Later in the game, Jacobs injured his ankle as well.
“I don’t think he was 100 percent,” Gruden admitted Monday. “He tried to fight through it.”
As for Ingold, Gruden said: “Obviously, Ingold is fighting through some things.”
The decision to call an outside run seemed a bit curious. The Raiders
often play smashmouth football in those situations, making no qualms about their intent. They rely on sheer size and power to impose their will, regardless of what the other team is doing.
That was the case through the first 10 weeks of the season, especially the three-game win streak when they pushed around the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos while churning out rushing yards and dominating time of possession.
In doing so, they created advantageous throwing situations for Derek Carr. The threat of the run kept opposing defenses off-balance against the pass.
But as the Falcons showed, by taking away the run and making the Raiders one-dimensional, Carr and the pass game are much easier to control. The Falcons had five sacks, including three strip-sacks that ended in lost Carr fumbles.
In each case, the Falcons dominated the line of scrimmage, a sign that
the Raiders’ patchwork offensive line could be hitting a wall. Remember, backup Denzelle Good has been asked to replace both Richie Incognito at left guard and Trent Brown at right tackle, and may have been stretched thin. Brown has played just one full game this year dealing with a calf injury and COVID-19.
Other replacements for Brown include Sam Young, who has had problems finishing games, and most recently Brandon Parker, who played solidly up until Sunday’s uneven performance against the Falcons.
Help could be on the way. Brown was back at the Raiders facility and could return within the next couple of weeks. The Raiders are also hopeful Jacobs can successfully manage his ankle injury and that Ingold’s fractured ribs continue to mend.
No matter what, it is incumbent on them to get back to their run-game roots.
Their playoff push depends on it.