Raiders at Steelers 2022 Week 16: Surprises on Christmas Eve

Raiders at Steelers 2022 Week 16: Surprises on Christmas Eve

The run game fell short…..for both teams

As mentioned previously, the weather for this Saturday night matchup was projected to be very cold and at the last minute, snow was also introduced to the mix. On top of that, it featured two of the best running backs in the league in Josh Jacobs and Najee Harris.

With the limitations that cold, wet weather can have on a teams passing game, everyone and their mother expected this game to be a battle on the ground between the two Alabama alumni.

Jacobs’s production and overall usage was the most surprising of the two. He was only given the ball 15 times and totaled a measly 44 yards rushing, barely beating his season low of 43 earlier in the year against the Saints. Most of why this ended up being the case was the fact that the passing game got going early on.

The Raiders drove down on their first possession and scored a touchdown when Derek Carr connected with Hunter Renfrow on 3rd down for the receiver’s first touchdown back since being activated off of IR.

The passing game though is what ended up being the Raiders’ demise for the remainder of the game and Josh Jacobs still wasn’t able to get into his usual rhythm. The one big play he did make, he ripped off a 40+ yard run that got called back because of an errant facemask call on Foster Moreau.

On the opposite side, Pittsburgh running back Najee Harris had similar production as well. He only touched the ball 16 times on the ground, picking up 53 rushing yards. He was used more in the passing game though, getting 6 receptions on 9 targets for 42 yards receiving.

The Raiders’ run defense has played relatively well all season, except for a few miss hap games recently. That being said, many expected more production out of both these running backs who can take over a game at any moment.