After a long offseason that felt like it went on forever, we finally got Las Vegas Raiders football. The Raiders did not disappoint the nation going into Carolina and defeating the Carolina Panthers 34-30 in a nail biter that went down to the final minutes.
The Raiders offense showed up in a big way, putting up 34 points on the board, which is more than they scored all last season. After their first three and out, they achieved five straight scoring drives, helping build a 12 point lead. Raiders averaged 6.09 yards per play and converted 54% of their third downs. That outlook looks great for the rest of the season.
The defense didn’t shine as much as they looked leaky in the backend and didn’t generate much pressure. The Panthers offense was able to move the ball well, allowing 5.96 yards per play, and injuries started to let Christen McCaffery get going late. However, it made the big stop on the fourth down to help secure the win.
Who were the winners and losers for Week 1?
Winner: RB Josh Jacobs
The easiest one for the day was Josh Jacobs. Coming into the season with a ton of hype, Jacobs exceeded the hype with a huge opening day helping the Raiders with their red-zone woes for now with a three-touchdown day.
Jacobs set the tone for the offense and was able to display his vision and decisiveness. While he didn’t have the best yards per carry mark at 3.7, he was able to help out in the passing game adding four catches for 46 yards and able to make Carr look good when he checked down late in the game.
JOSH JACOBS HAS 3 TDS TODAY 🤯 @brgridiron
(via @raiders) pic.twitter.com/a3CnTGG1lX
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 13, 2020
If this is the Jacobs the Raiders are getting all year, he could be a player the offense can ride to wins late in the game. The Raiders were able to make big plays off the play-action as well and give Carr lanes when teams sucked up to stop Jacobs. Jacobs is ready to take his game to the next level.
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