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The run game is a big part of what the Raiders do. Josh Jacobs more times than not gets the ball on first down. That’s who they are. They establish the run, and everything else works off of it.
That’s a pretty old school philosophy, and Jon Gruden is an old school coach. Up to this point, that strategy has paid off, especially of late with Josh Jacobs running for over 100 yards four of the past six games. The Raiders are 3-1 in those games.
One of those wins came last week against the Bengals who field the league’s worst run defense allowing 167 yards per game.
This week the Raiders go from one end of the spectrum to the other as they will head to the Meadowlands to face the New York Jets who boast the league’s top run defense allowing just 79.1 yards per game.
Much of the credit for the Jets’ strong run defense goes to their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams.
“Yeah, I think Gregg’s done a good job of really creating that team environment, that group mentality,” said Jets head coach Adam Gase. “Those guys, they do a good job of working together. You know it’s not all on one guy. So, I mean we’re doing a good job right now of just playing good solid team football, and you know it started, we always talk about it starts with the run game. If we can’t stop the run, it’s always going to be a long day when you keep a team two-dimensional.”
Leading the way on the field for the Jets is Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams with 28 combined run stops (24 solo). Along the defensive line, it’s Kyle Phillips with 24 combined run stops (16 solo), and among the linebackers is Neville Hewitt, also with 24 combined run stops (12 solo). So, they share the load, with each phase contributing.
“It’s a very aggressive defense,” said Jon Gruden. “They have good players, we’ll start there. They all can run, they all can hit, and they all can tackle. They have a very aggressive scheme. They’re not afraid to load the box with bear defense. That’s Gregg Williams’ style. They cheat their corners in run support, and they’ll tackle you. You’ve got to give Jamal Adams his props, he is really something.”
The Raiders have faced a tough run defense before and beat it. Jacobs ran for 123 yards against the Bears’ stout run defense in London in week 5 and got a big win out of it. So, they’ve done it before. They’ll be tested once again to see if they can either outdo a top run defense or win anyway without it.
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