Klint Kubiak made it abundantly clear in Week 1 that this Las Vegas Raiders team was going to be hell-bent on establishing the run. And that strategy worked beautifully on opening weekend, as Ashton Jeanty and Co. ran all over the Miami Dolphins. It seemed like a clear recipe going forward.
And it was, but with much different results in Week 2. The Raiders failed to get anything going on the ground, and that ineffectiveness bled into Jeanty's receiving ability, as he dropped a staggering three passes in the contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. Last Sunday was far from his finest day.
Fortunately for Jeanty and the Las Vegas rushing attack, a showdown against the New Orleans Saints is on the docket in Week 3. While playing on the road at Caesars Superdome is never an easy task, this matchup is quite favorable for Jeanty in particular to get back on track early in the season.
Ashton Jeanty struggled in Raiders' Week 2 game vs. Chargers
After logging 102 yards on the ground against Miami on 4.4 yards per carry and snatching six balls for 45 yards and touchdowns, Jeanty came crashing back down to earth against Los Angeles. He totaled just 48 yards on the ground on 2.3 yards per rush and had four catches for 15 yards.
Sure, the offensive line didn't step up and pave lanes for him and Mike Washington Jr. as they did in the previous week, but the advanced stats would also put some of the onus on Jeanty. In Week 1, Jeanty had 13 yards over expected, and in Week 2, he had 14 yards below expected.
He just wasn't seeing the lanes that were available to him, and clearly something was off with Jeanty, as his three drops on Sunday were almost as many as he had all last season (4). The NFL is a week-by-week league, and Kubiak isn't abandoning the run, but the pendulum shouldn't swing this much.
To a certain extent, a drop in production was expected, as the Chargers knew to crowd the box after the showing Jeanty put on the week before, and based on how little success Kirk Cousins had throwing downfield. And Los Angeles is light-years more talented, especially up front, than Miami.
But Cousins actually did his job and found receivers deep this past weekend, which should have eased the burden on Jeanty in the run game. Unfortunately, it didn't. On paper, though it looks like the tide could turn on Sunday against New Orleans.
Saints' poor run defense presents great chance for Ashton Jeanty to get back on track
New Orleans, to put it mildly, has been gashed on the ground through two games. Against the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens, they gave up an astounding 273 rushing yards, which is the sixth-most in the NFL in terms of yards per game, and their 5.0 yards per rush allowed is also sixth-worst.
Surely, Jeanty can put up some numbers against that unit and impact the game in a major way.
Now, facing off against Jahmyr Gibbs and Derrick Henry, not to mention Lamar Jackson, in back-to-back weeks is not for the faint of heart, nor is it really the best barometer for how good a run defense is. Almost everyone in the league struggles against that level of running backs, not just the Saints.
But... didn't the Raiders draft Jeanty No. 6 overall to be that level of running back? As a rookie, in a much poorer environment, mind you, Jeanty ran all over the Houston Texans late in the season. He is capable of dominating every front that he goes up against, it just has to all come together.
And the Saints' poor track record of stopping the run through the first two weeks of the campaign should be a vote of confidence for Jeanty to turn things back around in Week 3. It won't be time to panic if he doesn't, but a huge opportunity is certainly there for the second-year stud.
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