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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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Two weeks ago, the Raiders were a 4-4 team, and the Jets were sitting at 1-7. Since then, both sides have not lost. The Raiders have beaten the Chargers and Bengals to win their third straight, and the Jets have beaten their New York roomie Giants and Washington.

You would figure a 6-4 team would be rather heavily favored over a 3-7 team, but that isn’t the case this week with the Raiders and Jets. The Raiders are favored, but by just 2.5 points at BetMGM.

There are probably a couple reasons for this narrow line favoring the Raiders. First off, the Raiders may have won three straight, but all were one-score games. Even their win over the winless Bengals was by just seven points. The Raiders were a 10.5-point favorite, so they didn’t cover that spread.

The Jets, on the other hand, have put up 34 points each of the past two weeks and doubled up Washington last week. The Jets’ other win this season was over the Cowboys, who, as it happens, also now sit at 6-4 on the season.

The other reason is simply that the game is in New York. The Raiders are 5-1 at home (if you count the game in London) but are 1-3 on the road this season. Those kinds of things are factored into how the lines are calculated.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Despite the three-game winning streak, the Oakland Raiders are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture. They are the No. 7 seed in AFC, just behind the Buffalo Bills (7-3) and the Houston Texans (6-4).

However, things can change very quickly in the AFC, and with the Raiders facing the 3-7 Jets on Sunday, a win could quickly put them in the driver’s seat in the wild card race.

According to the New York Times playoff simulator, the Raiders currently have a 45 percent chance of making the playoffs. But with a win on Sunday, those odds increase to 56 percent, regardless of any other outcome over the weekend. If teams such as the Colts or Steelers lose, those odds can move all the way up into the 60s.

However, a loss on Sunday would be devastating to the team’s playoff chances. Losing to the Jets would drop their playoff odds down to just 29 percent as Oakland would essentially need to win four of their final five games to make the postseason.

While Sunday’s game is just one of 16 for the Raiders, it feels much more important than that. Oakland needs the win to stay on pace with teams like the Colts, Steelers, and Bills, especially with a Week 13 matchup with the Chiefs looming.

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Heading into the 2019 NFL draft, it was no secret that Oakland was searching for a new slot receiver. Seth Roberts was gone, and they had nobody on the roster to fill that role. Luckily, Jon Gruden and his coaching staff had the opportunity to coach at the Senior Bowl, where they got to see the best slot receiver in all of the nation up close; Clemson’s Hunter Renfrow.

Despite a somewhat slow start, Renfrow has caught fire over the last month, catching 19 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns in his previous four games. While Renfrow will likely never be a true No. 1 receiver, he’s already becoming one of Derek Carr’s favorite targets.

In a recent piece by Pro Football Focus, the site named the top-10 graded rookies so far from the 2019 class. Not surprisingly, Josh Jacobs continues to sit in the No. 1 spot. But it’s Renfrow who has suddenly made an appearance inside of the top-10 at No. 8. Take a look at what Pro Football Focus has to say about the rookie receiver:

The longtime Clemson Tiger and now Oakland Raider Hunter Renfrow has been heating up over the last few weeks, ranking second in PFF grade for a wide receiver since Week 9. Playing in Gruden’s west coast offense that lives and dies by horizontal passing, Renfrow is a critical component and has really helped the offense as a whole. On slant and crossing routes specifically, Renfrow is tied for seventh in PFF receiving grade.

If Oakland can find a true No. 1 receiver this offseason, that should open up things in the middle even more for Renfrow going forward. He clearly knows his role and is a perfect fit in Gruden’s West Coast offense. Look for the rookie to continue to be targeted frequently in the team’s final six games.

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