Raiders RB Josh Jacobs key to victory against Chargers in Week 13
The Los Angeles Chargers have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, so a healthy Raiders RB Josh Jacobs running all over them is the key in Week 13.
What’s the best way to attack a defense that’s averaging the highest yards per carry in the league, Raiders? Feed your running back who’s fresh off of a 229-yard game on the ground.
The Las Vegas Raiders dug themselves into a hole by posting a record of 2-7 after 10 weeks. Since that moment, every remaining contest became a must-win game, and this Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers is no different.
The two AFC West teams met back in Week 1 where Las Vegas walked away with a 19-24 loss on the road. Quarterback Derek Carr threw three interceptions and Jacobs ran the ball 10 times for a total of 57 rushing yards; tied for the lowest number of carries he’s had in a game this season.
Against the Chargers, Jacobs can’t get only 10 touches on the ground if Las Vegas expects to win – and he won’t.
No team’s defense in the National Football League gives up more yards per carry than the Chargers. At 5.4 yards per carry allowed, opposing teams have been rushing over them all season, leading to Los Angeles giving up the sixth-most rushing yards league-wide. And, luckily for the Raiders, they have a running back who leads the league in yards on the ground.
Josh McDaniels and the Raiders have certainly over-complicated things often this season, but this one is impossible to get wrong. Face a team who allows the most rushing yards per carry, have the top running back this season, and run the football.
The game plan couldn’t be any more open and shut.
Josh Jacobs is posting career-highs with six games still left in the season
There are still six weeks of football left, but that doesn’t matter to Raiders’ running back Josh Jacobs.
Through 11 contests, the 24-year-old has already logged single-season career highs in both yards and first-downs on the ground, currently leading the league in rushing yards. Jacobs has already cracked the 100-yard mark rushing five times this season, which is a career-high total.
As a pass catcher, the first-round draft pick in the 2019 NFL Draft is just 23 yards away from tying the best single-season mark of his career. He’s doing this off of 40 catches, falling just 14 receptions shy of another personal record.
Expect Jacobs’ season-long excellence to continue against the Chargers.