Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs: 5 things we learned

Josh Jacobs is still the Closer from 2019

Josh Jacobs still doesn’t have a 100-yard game this season, but he had another great game against a defense that was geared up to stop him. Jacobs had 23 carries for 77 yards and two touchdowns including what turned out to be the winning touchdown after Jeff Heath’s interception.

Jacobs has proven to be a barometer of the Raiders’ success since he came to the league. When Jacobs has 20 or more carries, the Raiders are 7-2 and when he doesn’t they are 2-7. If Jacobs is punishing defenders and keeping drives alive, the Raiders always have a much better chance to win.

The second-year back is especially dangerous when the game is on the line and when the Raiders got the ball back up 8 with 4 minutes to go, Jon Gruden turned to Jacobs and he delivered with two punishing runs to get a first down and force KC to burn their two final timeouts.

He gave Jacobs the ball two more times and he and the offensive line put the team in a manageable third down situation to potentially close out the game. He didn’t get the ball on third and fourth down but he had done the heavy lifting by getting the initial first down on the drive.

If Jacobs is right and getting the ball consistently, the Raiders will always have a solid chance at coming away with a win.