What We Know About the Oakland Raiders Through Five Weeks
By Segun Giwa
3. The offensive line is as good as a advertised
The Raiders’ o-line is nasty. The Raiders’ o-line is tough. Just like a Raider offensive line should be.
Lead by versatile free-agent acquisition Kelechi Osemele, the Raiders have allowed the fewest sacks (5) and the fewest QB hits (19) in the NFL. The line opens up holes so wide, you and I could run through them. The holes are so wide even Latavius Murray can hit them with a full head of steam, as opposed to last season when he would often times run into the backs of his linemen.
Not only is Murray’s YPC up from last year, he is already halfway to his 2015 touchdown total. His sidekicks in the running game, Jalen Richard and Deandre Washington, are averaging 7 and 5.3 YPC on 25 and 32 carries, respectively.
The three-headed monster in the run game has been crucial to Carr’s success because it takes pressure off of him late in games, decreasing Carr’s turnovers in crunch time, something that he has struggled with in the past due to the lack of a dependable rushing attack.