Category: Raiders buzz

Busters for Raiders Week 13 heartbreaker vs Chiefs

How it started out poorly and then went wrong in the end for the Raiders in their week 13 matchup with the Chiefs.

A valiant effort by the Raiders, but alas they were unable to come away from Arrowhead with a W. This is where I am looking for why that may be.

Busters

S Isaiah Pola-Mao, CB DeCamerion Richardson, CB Jack Jones

Let’s talk about how the Raiders found themselves in a 16-3 hole in the first place.

The second play of the game, Richardson gave up a 14-yard catch. Later Jones was flagged for pass interference to put the Chiefs in field goal range.

The next drive me gave up a catch and missed the tackle for a ten-yard gain. And. few plays later, Pola-Mao gave up the longest catch to that point of 24 yards to put the Chiefs in field goal range.

The first Chiefs’ touchdown, Pola-Mao was out of position to give up a wide open 27-yard catch to the tight end — a new long for the game. That catch put them in scoring range in one play. But it was Jones who would give up the touchdown catch from six yards out.

And on the next drive, Jones it on the double move and Pola-Mao was late getting over to give up *another* 24-yard catch to midfield.

The first drive of the third quarter, Richardson gave up an 11-yard catch to make for an easier field goal to make it a 13-3 Chiefs lead. And then on the next drive, in third and ten, he allowed a 30-yard catch to put them in field goal range again. And there you have that 16-3 lead.

After the Raiders scored two quick touchdowns to take the lead, the Chiefs drove right down to take a back. They did so in part because Jones gave up a a 15-yard catch on second and 20 and on third and five Pola-Mao was late helping again to give up a 19-yard catch to put the Chiefs in first and goal.

LT Kolton Miller, RT DJ Glaze

There were several opportunities for the Raiders to close that 16-3 well before they actually did it. In the second quarter a drive began with a two runs for 28 yards. But it ended three plays later with Glaze giving up a sack.

The first drive of the third quarter began with a 12-yard run and a 25-yard catch and run to put the Raiders in field goal range. But when they went for it on 4th and one, Miller gave up the run stuff for no gain for the turnover on downs.

The next drive, the Raiders got as far as the KC 22-yard line off a crazy Brock Bowers one-handed grab. Then Miller gave up the sack for a 15-yard loss and Daniel Carlson missed the 55-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Miller was called for holding on the next Raiders drive which threatened to spoil a 69-yard return. But this time a long TD pass from O’Connell to Bowers dug them out of it.

After the Chiefs re-took the lead in the fourth quarter, the Raiders picked up a first down, but got no further when Glaze gave up pressure on third and nine, leading to an incompletion and a punt.

HC Antonio Pierce

Aidan O’Connell took the blame for the errant snap on the final play. And, yeah, it was his fault. He was clapping to hurry things up and right guard Dylan Parham took that to mean he wanted the ball snapped, so he tapped Jackson Powers-Johnson’s leg to get him to snap it. But here’s my bigger issue — they never should’ve been in that situation in the first place.

There was too much to lose and not enough to gain from calling that play. He shouldn’t have been in shotgun. He probably shouldn’t have been running a play at all. They were in field goal range with 11 seconds left. That should be the game winner. And instead the team was a panicky, discombobulated mess.

Even if there hadn’t been a botched snap, there would’ve been an illegal shift penalty that wiped out whatever they did and backed them up because they weren’t set when the ball was snapped. They simply have to be more poised in crucial moments like that. Or they shouldn’t be put in that position in a hostile environment like that.

We should be talking about *another* huge come-from-behind, improbable victory in KC. But instead we’re talking about a massive missed opportunity.

See the Ballers.

‘Records go out the window’: Raiders face Chiefs with ‘chaos’ in mind

The Raiders were the last team to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead. They will look to do it again on Friday by sowing a little chaos.

It wasn’t a year ago a 6-8 Raiders team that had already lost big time to the Chiefs went into Arrowhead and beat a 9-5 Chiefs team. So, if anyone should know not to anticipate what is going to happen this Sunday in Kansas City, it’s the Chiefs.

“Records go out the window, just like they did last year when we played them on Christmas Day,” said Pierce. “So they understand that, we understand that. They’ll be excited, just like we will be excited for this game. Only two teams playing that day, right? It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase what’s improved about the Raiders, right? What’s different, what’s going to change, and obviously we got a chance to do that at two o’clock.

“The rivalry is what it is. I think if you look at the last couple games, we’ve played them close. It’s been back and forth, and it’s been physical, and they’re going to come after us. We know them, they know us, and there’s a lot of trash talking. And they don’t like the color of Silver and Black, and we don’t like red. So, it should be fun.”

Antonio Pierce had been on the job as interim head coach in Las Vegas for seven weeks when he took a revitalized Raiders team into Arrowhead and shocked the world by leaving with a 20-14 win.

What no one knew at the time was that the Chiefs would then go on to win the Super Bowl and not lose again until ten games into the 2024 season. They now sit at 10-1 looking like they could be headed for another championship. But that’s for later. They have to get through Black Friday first.

“Llet’s call a spade a spade,” Pierce said of the matchup. “The best team in football against the worst team in football. Let’s change the narrative, right? Let’s go out there and make it a dog fight. Let’s make it ugly. Let’s make it scrappy. It’s Black Friday. Let’s create a little chaos. Let’s get back to Raider football and have some fun and some personality. Let it loose.”

This season, the Chiefs may have the best record, but they haven’t been blowing teams out. Only two of their ten wins have been by more than one score. And one of those one-score wins was their 27-20 game against the Raiders. So, they’re not unbeatable. Even thought it took the second best team in the league to hand them their lone defeat.

Facing a 2-9 Raiders team currently on a seven-game losing streak would be what they commonly refer to as a trap game. Although, that’s usually when a team overlooks an opponent. And it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs doing that for this one.

Will Aidan O’Connell play this week? Injury updates for Raiders QB

Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell is dealing with a broken thumb. Here are the latest updates.

The Raiders might look to Aidan O’Connell as the quarterback after Gardner Minshew suffered a broken collarbone in the loss to the Broncos last week.

O’Connell has been on the IR since October, though, with a broken thumb. The initial timeline for his return was estimated to be 4-6 weeks.

Will the former Purdue QB take snaps on Friday?

Aidan O’Connell injury update

O’Connnell is on track to return for the Raiders. He suffered a broken thumb and has been on IR but … he is ready to go again.

One point to remember: O’Connell was the quarterback last season when the Raiders defeated the Chiefs in one of their two meetings.

Raiders quarterback depth chart

After the Minshew injury, the Raiders only have Desmond Ridder at quarterback.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 12 loss to Broncos

Collecting the individual performances both good and bad for the Raiders in their week 13 game against the Denver Broncos.

The streak hit seven games last week. That’s seven straight losses for the Raiders. Two of those losses were at the hands of the Broncos, which means after four seasons of Raiders sweeps over their Denver rivals, the tables have officially turned.

This time they made a game of it, leading into the third quarter, before ultimately things reverted to the new normal.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby, DE Tyree Wilson

Crosby put up three tackles for loss which put him over 100 for his career which has him joining some Hall of Fame level NFL greats. While Wilson had easily the best game of his career.

Wilson got pressure that led to a run stuff for one yard and the Broncos first drive ended one play later with a punt.

Late in the first quarter, the Broncos drove into scoring range, but on third down, Crosby got the tackle to jump early and then on third and longer showed why the tackle jumped by getting pressure to force an incompletion. They settled for a field goal.

The next Broncos drive again moved into scoring range, and Crosby and Wilson stopped it. With Denver in first down at the 26, Crosby got his first tackle for loss and then on third down, Wilson came right up the gut on a stunt for an 11-yard loss on a sack. It made the Broncos convert a 53-yard field goal and preserved the Raiders’ lead at 7-6.

Late in the second quarter, the Broncos drove into scoring range again. In first down at the 32, Wilson shot into the backfield to make an open field tackle for a five-yard loss. And they again had to settle for a long field goal while preserving a 10-9 Raiders lead.

The games first interception gave the Broncos the ball at the Vegas 18. And on first down, Wilson made the stop for no gain. They would still get the touchdown on the next play to take a 16-13 lead.

Crosby and Wilson would keep it a three-point game with Crosby making the tackle on a two-yard catch and he and Wilson getting pressure on third down to force an incompletion.

Early in the third quarter, with the Broncos in scoring range again, Crosby put up consecutive tackles for loss to force another Broncos field goal and keep it at a one score game. Wilson would add a tackle for loss late in the game, but by then it was too late and the Broncos added a field goal to put the game away.

P AJ Cole

Weapon. Cole was pinning the Broncos back all day. And a bit more. His first punt was a pooch punt that was fair caught at the 11-yard line. He second punt was from his own end zone and he launched it 60 yards with no return as he bounced out of bounds.

His next play was not with his leg, but his arm. The Raiders caught the Broncos by surprise. Cole sold it well, catching the snap and spinning it like he was going to punt it, but instead pulling it back and lofting a pass for Divine Deablo who made the easy catch and took it 34 yards to the Denver 30. They got a field goal out of it to make it a 10-6 game.

With the lead lost in the third quarter, Cole had another beauty of a punt that DJ Turner collected at the one-yard line. Four punts. Three with no return, two inside the 20, one downed at the one, and one with a net 60 yards. And the pass off the fake. Have yourself a game, AJ.

WR Jakobi Meyers

Two games ago, Meyers had his first ever 100-yard receiving game with the Raiders. Now he has two. And outdid the last one. Jakobi finished with 121 yards on ten catches.

Late in the second quarter, he made a tough catch while simultaneously being nailed in the back by a defender. It went for 18 yards to put them in field goal range to take a 13-9 lead at the half.

He drew a pass interference penalty on third down to lead out the fourth quarter that put the team in field goal range so they could cut the Broncos lead to 19-16. The next drive he had four catches for 42 yards to keep it a one-score game and give the Raiders a chance late. It was the strip sack on the next drive that killed their chance.

RB Ameer Abdulla

He scored the Raiders’ only touchdown of the game. He also had 65 yards on 13 touches

Honorable Mention

RB Dylan Laube — His 59-yard kick return set up the Raiders’ only TD of the day. And it gave him a much better last memory than having fumbled his only offensive carry of the season.

LB Divine Deablo — Make the 34-yard catch off the fake punt and added five tackles on defense.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 12 loss to Broncos

Those whose performances were most responsible for the Raiders failing to pull out the win over the Broncos.

We move on to the performances that most led to the Raiders losing to the Broncos on Sunday.

Busters

CB DeCamerion Richardson

It seemed whenever the Broncos needed a big play, they looked to whoever Richardson was guarding. Their second score of the game was set up when Richardson gave up a 24-yard catch. Their third score was thanks for Richardson not playing the ball and being called for a pass interference.

The fourth quarter was led out by another Broncos field goal that was made possible when Richardson gave up an 18-yard catch on third and ten. The next drive, Richardson gave up the touchdown catch to make it a 26-16 game. The Raiders couldn’t catch up after that.

QB Gardner Minshew

Minshew had some nice throws in this game. But in the end, the bad plays far outweighed the good.

He fumbled the first snap of the game, with was not a good sign. That first drive would end with him throwing off target for Brock Bowers on third and three. That was followed by a three-and-out on their second possession.

Three straight scoring drives in the second quarter made things very interesting. And had it continued, Minshew would surely have been a Baller for this one. But as often happens, come the third, the good feeling disipated.

Four possessions in the third for the Raiders went like this — three-and-out with a batted pass at the line on third down, Minshew running into a sack and then getting picked off leading to a Broncos TD, a five-play possession ending with Minshew throwing incomplete for a well covered Brock Bowers, and a three-and-out ending on a low pass into the turf.

It was a six-point Bronocs lead by the time the Raiders got the ball in the fourth quarter. They would score two more times, but couldn’t get more than a field goal, which wasn’t enough. Then Minshew was tackled on a roll out, breaking his collarbone and was lost for the season. Just to be clear, I am not blaming him for breaking his collarbone. Just detailing that it happened.

LT Kolton Miller, RT DJ Glaze

A holding penalty on Glaze stalled the Raiders second scoring drive after driving to the 11-yard line.

The Raiders still carried a 13-9 lead into the third quarter. But on their second possession, both Miller and Glaze gave up pressure from each side that caused Minshew’s pass to sail and get intercepted. The Broncos got the ball at the Vegas 18-yard line and scored the TD two plays later to take a 16-13 lead.

Late in the game, with it still a one-score game at 26-19, the Raiders got the ball. Minshew was knocked out of the game and two plays after Desmond Ridder came in, Miller gave up a strip sack, the Broncos recovered, and added a field goal to put the game away.

See the Ballers

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Singling out the individual performances for the Raiders week 11 vs the Dolphins.

Despite the lopsided score, things weren’t all bad on Sunday for the Raiders. And when you’re in the midst of a six-game losing streak, it’s important to try and find the little positives to suggest things won’t always be this way.

So, as always, let’s start there.

Ballers

TE Brock Bowers

Bowers set single game records for catches by a rookie tight end (13) in a game while going over 100 yards (126) for the first time in his young career. He just seems to get better and better all the time. Which is saying a lot considering he was already on pace for some record numbers on the season.

His first catch of this game went for 14 yards to put the Raiders in first and goal at the ten and they added a field goal on their opening drive. The second scoring drive, he had three catches for 38 yards, including an 11-yard catch on third and ten to the 18 and they added another field goal to make it a 10-6 game at the half.

In the third quarter, with the Raiders in third and nine from the Miami 23, he went in motion, Gardner Minshew saw single coverage, threw it to him in the flat, and Bowers did the rest. He shot out of a cannon for the end zone, breaking a tackle and scoring to make it a five-point game at 17-12.

After falling behind 24-12 in the fourth quarter, Bowers went to work again, making three first down catches, including a third down conversion, fourth down conversion and the final catch that put them in first and goal at the ten. Three plays later, they were in the end zone to bring it back to a one score game at 24-19. Things got out of hand after that.

LT Kolton Miller

His primary job is protecting Gardner Minshew’s blindside and he did that flawlessly in this game. No pressures or penalties on his part and I saw no instances where his man made a run stop either. Just a nice clean game for Miller which he needed in a rough season.

DT Adam Butler, DT John Jenkins

Jenkins had two run stuffs on the Dolphins’ first drive; one for a loss and the other on first and goal from the five, forcing them to have to end up going for it on fourth and goal to get the touchdown.

The first actual stop by the Raiders defense was made by Butler. The Dolphins drove to first and goal. On the Dolphins’ second drive, they were once again in first and goal. Butler got containment and Jenkins made the stop for one yard. Two plays later, Butler made the sack on third down to force the Dolphins to settle for a field goal.

The next full drive, the Dolphins were in first and goal yet again and Jenkins beat his man at the line to draw a holding penalty.

Butler would add two more tackles for loss in the game in the fourth quarter. He finished with five combined tackles, two for a loss, a sack, and a QB hit. Jenkins had four combined tackles, two for a loss.

DE Charles Snowden

Snowden got into the backfield to make a tackle for loss on the second play of the game. It was a preview of the kind of day he was going to have.

The next full drive came in the third quarter, and he forced an incompletion in coverage and on another play got pressure that led to a tackle for loss. He added a pass breakup later.

Honorable Mention

LB Robert Spillane — Led the team with 11 tackles, four of which were on runs of three yards or less.

WR Jakobi Meyers — Had key third down plays on each of the Raiders first two scoring drives. His 20 yards on one run led the Raiders in rushing.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Those Raiders who had the worst day against the Dolphins in week 11.

Enough with the little positives. Let’s look at the glaring negatives. And when you fail to stop a team to force a single punt or turnover, naturally there are going to be plenty of those.

Busters

LB Divine Deablo

The first play of the game, he was in the wrong gap to give up a five-yard run. Two plays later, on the first third down play of the game, Deablo ran into a receiver to give up a 17-yard catch then gave up a seven-yard catch on the next play to put the Dolphins in scoring range. they would go on to score an opening drive touchdown.

He was blocked on a ten-yard run to lead off the Dolphins second scoring drive.

In the third quarter, the Dolphins could go on another touchdown drive. Along with way, Deablo had missed tackles on consecutive plays. Then on first and goal from the four-yard-line, he was called for a facemask that offset a holding penalty on the Dolphins so they just replayed the down.

And finally, the game clinching touchdown, Deablo was supposed to be covering Jonnu Smith, but instead just let him go by him, where he was completely wide open for a 57-yard touchdown.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Pola-Mao gave up the first touchdown of the game when he was late getting over in coverage on fourth and goal from the two.

Their second touchdown was set up by a 30-yard run on which Pola-Mao missed the tackle to put them in first and goal at the four.

And on the final TD, Pola-Mao committed to the right side of the field and ended up covering no one while leaving the entire middle of the field complete wide open for Jonnu Smith all alone to go 57 yards for the score.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

With Jakorian Bennett lost on the second play of the game, the rookie was pressed into service. And he didn’t fair well to say the least.

Richardson gave up a 16-yard catch on the first drive that set the Dolphins up at the Vegas 12-yard line. Then on the next drive, he gave up a 24-yard catch that set them up at the 16-yard line.

The second touchdown of the game for the Dolphins was given up by Richardson from nine yards out.

The next drive, he gave up a 14-yard catch on third and four, and finally failed to keep containment on the edge to allow for an easy run around the left side for the touchdown.

RT DJ Glaze, RG Dylan Parham

The Raiders got a reprieve on their first drive of the game when Calais Campbell was flagged for roughing the kicker on their punt attempt. They too advantage and moved into goal to go at the ten. Then on second and goal, Parham gave up the sack to back them up to the 18. They gave up on scoring the TD after that and kicked the field goal.

The next drive, they again drove into goal to go. And again, it was pressure that killed their shot. This time it was Glaze giving up pressure that forced a throw short of the first down and they again settled for three instead of six.

The Raiders got the ball to start the second half, and promptly went three-and-out. Because Glaze gave up pressure on third down again, leading to a bad pass that fell incomplete.

They would finally punch it in in the third quarter, but when they went for two to try and make it a three-point game, Parham got shucked to give up a run stuff for a loss.

See the Ballers

Norv Turner conversation with son Scott about joining Raiders staff was so wholesome

Some things are bigger than football. And when Raiders interim OC Scott Turner asked his dad Norv to join him in Las Vegas reminder of that.

Some things are bigger than football. And sometimes, as with Norv Turner joining his son with the Raiders, it can fulfill both the football aspects as well as the life.

When the Raiders fired Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator, Antonio Pierce turned to passing game coordinator Scott Turner to take over as interim OC. To which, Turner had one request — bring my dad onboard.

“AP made the decision that he made and he contacted me and we went through the process and the only thing I really asked for was if we could have my dad come, just for some help,” said Scott of his father Norv. “He was good about that, when AP was a player he played against my dad when he was a coach, so he said he thought it was a good idea and that was pretty much it.”

Norv had coached at the NFL level, either as an offensive coordinator or a head coach for nearly 40 years. But this was about a lot more than his wealth of experience. For both of them, this was the bonds between father and son and grandchildren.

But first, it was about breaking the news to mama Turner that Norv was coming out of retirement.

“He just said don’t tell your mom. He was like ‘I got to find out how I’m going to break it to her.’ Scott said of his dad’s response to being asked to join him in Las Vegas. “She was good. She was like ‘I don’t know why he was so nervous’. I was like ‘Come on, you know why’. He’s living with me. My kids are enjoying it. They don’t see him much, but they will as we get to the end of the week and my mom will be out here in about a week or so.

“I coached with my dad before. He was the coordinator, I was the quarterback coach. So being able to live close to him was great. Now, my kids are older — 10 and 8 — so they’re like super fired up about having Papa around. So, that part of it on a personal note is really cool.”

On a professional note, Norv Turner is yet another former head coach and well-respected mind on this Raiders coaching staff. Joining the likes of Marvin Lewis and Tom Coughlin in senior advisory roles. And being that he’s had a personal interest in the Raiders of late due to his son being on staff, he isn’t coming into it completely fresh.

“Being able to have him see us at practice every day, not just watching us from afar and helping with input is invaluable,” Scott added.

“He watches football constantly. He knows what we’ve done one offense,” Scott said of Norv. “Obviously the verbiage is totally foreign to him, but I can just translate it. He just says what he thinks and I say ‘Oh, we call it this’ or whatever. So, it’s really not that hard.

“And just fundamentals, tidbits for the quarterback, he’s sitting in a lot of the quarterback meetings. Just stuff that you don’t even think of. Again, I can only see so much.

“We have a great coaching staff, those guys do a great job too. It’s just another set of eyes. With the wealth of experience that he has who also, he’s not afraid to tell me what he really thinks obviously, so that part of it is great also.”

So, welcome back to the Silver & Black, Norv. And to spending more time with your son and grandkids. You love to see it.

Raiders hope one particular coaching move can rekindle spark on offense

No area has suffered the most this season than the ground game. The Raiders are hoping the move to Joe Philbin as OL coach can fix it.

Since Antonio Pierce overhauled the offensive coaching staff, he made it clear this team will be built around the run game. And that fact alone tells you why the team is 2-7 and have lost five straight.

They simply cannot run the ball. Like, historically bad at running the ball. Which wouldn’t be terrible if the team wasn’t relying upon it so heavily. But being that they were counting on it being a strength, everything else kinda fell apart along with it.

So, when Antonio Pierce fired Luke Getsy after just nine games, he also let a couple other coaches on the offense go as well.

“Our ability to run the football has to change,” said Antonio Pierce.”We have to run the football. We’re one of the worst teams in football, if not the worst running team in football. So, that has to change.”

With the way the team finished last season, there was reason to believe they could get something going on the ground.

Zamir White came in for the injured Josh Jacobs for the final four games and White’s rushing numbers were quite good. Even without seemingly doing anything special — which Jacobs was known for — White was still churning out the yards, averaging nearly 100 yards per game and over 4.7 yards per carry.

This season, he has seen his numbers take a nosedive. He is averaging less than three yards per carry and a few weeks ago lost his starting job.

What happened? A new blocking scheme happened.

The offensive line has struggled to acclimate to it as have the backs. And the entire offense.

That’s why along with Getsy, offensive line coach James Cregg was fired and replaced by Joe Philbin.

“Joe Philbin has been around this game a long time, coached some really good offensive lines, and been around some good offenses as well,” Pierce said. “And obviously, you got a gentleman who’s been a head coach, we talked about that prior. He’s been an offensive coordinator, and his forte is O-line play.”

Before and after Philbin was an OC and a head coach, he has coached offensive lines. Most recently for three seasons in Dallas (2020-22) and for a couple seasons in Indianapolis before that (2016-17).

His last two years in Dallas, the Cowboys rushing attack was top ten in the league. And he did it deploying man-power scheme, which is what the Raiders used the last two seasons with great success including Josh Jacobs becoming the league rushing champ in 2022.

Getting back to that kind of play could be the key to finding something on offense this season.

“Pad level, eyes down, striking, physicality up front, getting off the rock, hand placement, hat where it’s supposed to be,” Pierce added.

“And the one thing we talked about was just purely how we look off the offensive line. What does it look like physically from a technique standpoint, from a fundamental standpoint; so I’m excited to see what these guys do today in practice going forward.”

It may seem crazy to even think of switching up schemes midway through the season, but is it any more crazy to keep trying to force this line to run a scheme they clearly are not meant to run?

This upcoming week the line could have Dylan Parham back on the left side next to Kolton Miller. That’s where they lined up the past two seasons, so you know they could do it. Jordan Meredith was also on the team the past two seasons. Power is literally Jackson Powers-Johnson’s middle name. Well, ok, not really, but the Rimington award winner can definitely run that scheme. That just leaves rookie DJ Glaze at right tackle.

I, for one, think it will be fascinating to see what changes are to be made with this unit and whether the run game will find its footing again.

How bad is Raiders rushing attack? Just look at their former feature back’s numbers this season

Packers RB Josh Jacobs is among several NFL backs putting up better numbers alone than the entire Raiders team.

There are many stats you can use to show how bad the Raiders have been on the ground this season. Fist and foremost is simply looking at their numbers compared to the rest of the league where they are dead last in yards (692) and yards per carry (3.5).

Another way would be to compare their rush numbers to that of the last feature back they had prior to this season.

Josh Jacobs was allowed to leave as a free agent this offseason. A year after the team had retained him on a the franchise tag.

The Packers seem to be ok with their investment. Jacobs is currently fourth in the league with 762 yards rushing. That’s right, he has more yards alone than the entire Raiders team and in the same number of games.

In fact, if Jacobs continues to run at his season pace of 84.7 yards per game, he will surpass his entire 13-game 2023 total (805) this week.

The Packers are also sitting at 6-3 on the season.

Safe to say he’s enjoying his time in Green Bay instead of running into brick walls in the Raiders offense.

Jacobs isn’t alone among individual backs outpacing the Raiders either. He is one of five backs this season to have more rushing yards AND averaging more yards per game by themselves than the entire Raiders team (76.9).

Derrck Henry — 112 ypg (10)
Saquon Barkley — 110.1 ypg (9)
Chuba Hubbard — 81.8 ypg (10)
Josh Jacobs — 84.7 ypg (9)
Jahmyr Gibbs — 80.8 ypg (9)

These kinds of numbers were a primary reason the Raiders fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy last week after just nine games along with two other members of the offensive coaching staff.

They came into the season saying they were going to build the offense around the run game and that plan has proven to be a big reason for their demise. They sit at 2-7 having lost five straight.

The Raiders now come out of the bye week where they hope the changes on the offensive staff will make a positive difference in how the team performs.