Getty Oakland Raiders RB Josh Jacobs.
Johnathan Abram isn’t the only Oakland Raiders rookie who bleeds silver and black. A week after Abram went all around the media defending his team, Josh Jacobs took to Twitter to voice his love for the Raiders.
I love being a raider 🤷🏽♂️
It seemed innocent enough, but as always, the haters came out of the woodwork to bash Jacobs’ team. Most notably, a Miami Dolphins fans tried to throw shade at the Raiders, but Jacobs wasn’t having any of it.
@_BHANANA_ Says a Miami Dolphins fan ….
It’s very true that a Dolphins fan has no room to talk right now. Miami is currently fielding one of the worst teams/rosters the NFL has ever seen. They’ve traded away some of their best players and are in full-blown rebuilding mode. On the other hand, the Raiders are 3-2 and are just a game behind the Kansas City Chiefs for the lead in the AFC West. If the season ended today, Oakland would go into the playoffs as a wild card team.
Yes, the Raiders have been going through an extended period of mediocrity since 2002, but the Dolphins haven’t been much better. They’ve only been to the playoffs twice since 2001. Regardless, the Raiders are trending upwards and have a real shot at the playoffs.
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Josh Jacobs Could Be in for Big Game vs. Packers
Fresh off his best performance of the season against the Chicago Bears, Josh Jacobs should continue that success in Green Bay. The Packers don’t have nearly as stout of a run defense that the Bears do. According to Josh Dubow at the Associated Press, Green Bay is allowing a league-worst 5.92 yards per carry with eight or more players in the box.
#Raiders averaging league best 6 yards per carry vs 8+ men in box. Packers allowing league worst 5.92 ypc with 8+ in box
On the flip side of that, the Raiders are averaging the most yards per carry in the league when eight or more players are in the box. Plus, they should be getting Gabe Jackson back at right guard, which should help the running game quite a bit. If Trent Brown sits this one out, it’ll hurt on runs to the outside, but the Raiders don’t utilize those types of plays very often anyway.
Despite being relatively small, Jacobs hits hard. He’s among the NFL’s leaders in broken tackles and yards after contact. He runs with a purpose and he didn’t have a single negative play against the Bears in Week 5. Now that he’s facing a mediocre run defense, he should have an easier time putting up big numbers. With the Raiders’ wide receiver corps being depleted thanks to injuries, the offense should rely heavily on the run. The strategy worked against the Bears and should continue to work against the Packers.
Green Bay has a significantly better offense than Chicago does, so Oakland’s going to need to put up points. A win on Sunday would put the Raiders on the path to the playoffs and possibly the AFC West title with Patrick Mahomes missing several games for the Kansas City Chiefs. Put the offense on Jacobs’ shoulders and see if he can step up for two games in a row.
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