Las Vegas Raiders at Cleveland Browns: 3 things to watch in Week 8

Can the Raiders run the ball against this Cleveland front?

For the second week in a row and the third time this season, the Las Vegas Raiders will be facing a defense that is top 5 in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. The Saints are currently ranked fourth and the Raiders pounded away for 116 yards, the Buccaneers are second and the Raiders barely managed 75 yards, and now come the fifth ranked Cleveland Browns.

The Browns have allowed just 3 teams to rush for over 100 yards in 7 games, holding two others to under 70, and 2 teams to just around 80 yards. While the pass defense has struggled mightily the Browns’ rush defense has been a strength of their team on that side of the ball.

For the Raiders, they are 0-2 when rushing for less than 100 yards and 3-1 when eclipsing that mark so even in this pass-dominated era, establishing the run still matters. Josh Jacobs in particular has struggled as the young star has averaged just 3.4 yards per carry so far and is on track to fall short of his rookie season total which he set in 13 games.

Some of the Raiders struggles to run the ball consistently can be attributed to the simple fact that they played two games against teams that excel at stopping the run and the constant shuffling along the offensive line. The RT and LG positions have been a carousel due to injury and positive COVID-19 results and the unit has struggled to mesh in the run game.

The Browns defense will present another stiff test for the Raiders rushing attack but perhaps they can use the pass to set up the run against this leaky defensive backfield. Getting Josh Jacobs and Devontae Booker going against the Browns will take a great deal of pressure off Derek Carr after he was beat up by the Bucs defense.