Oakland Raiders Week 13 X-Factors against the Kansas City Chiefs
By Matt Holder
Josh Jacobs
A week after struggling against one of the best rushing defenses in the league, the offensive line and Josh Jacobs have an opportunity to bounce back against a team that is one of the worst at stopping the run. The Chiefs allow 143.1 yards per game against the run, third-most in the NFL, and Pro Football Focus grades them as a bottom-tier run defense.
For comparison, Oakland averages 122.7 rushing yards per game and the team’s PFF rushing grade ranks sixth in the league.
Obviously, Jacobs is a big reason the team has been successful on the ground. He leads the team in rushing yards by 800 and is the only Raider with more than one touchdown on the ground.
The rookie was able to exploit Kansas City’s porous run defense with a few explosive plays in week two, as shown by the chart below. Of his 12 carries in the first contest, six went for five yards or more and this effort needs to be replicated the second time around. It’s almost inevitable that the Chiefs are going to put up a lot of points, so if the Raiders are going to keep pace Jacobs needs to be featured early and often.