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There’s plenty of blame to go around after the Oakland Raiders‘ bad loss to the New York Jets. Offense, defense and special teams all made bad plays that contributed to the loss. As Derek Carr put it, the team “got their face kicked in.” It surprised many who expected the Raiders to tie for the lead in the AFC West after this game. However, rookie running back Josh Jacobs saw this loss coming.
“Not to me,” Jacobs said about whether or not the loss was surprising, via The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “But I think the game will benefit us more than anything. We kind of needed it. We’ll see how things play out.”
Jacobs shouldn’t be very used to losing considering he played college football for Alabama. Fortunately, it looks like he doesn’t take the loses too hard. The Raiders are in an incredibly young team and much has been made about their amazing group of rookies. It’s easy for young players to get a big head after a three-game winning streak. How Oakland responds to this embarrassing loss will be very telling for the future of this team.
How Will the Raiders Respond to the Loss?
The season is far from over with five games left and the AFC West title still within reach. They also have a real shot at the last Wild Card spot. The Pittsburgh Steelers are also 6-5 and have major quarterback issues. The Raiders head to Kansas City next Sunday and that will be the biggest game of the season. If they win, they tie with the Chiefs at 7-5 each and share the top spot in the AFC West.
A close loss to the Chiefs wouldn’t be catastrophic and the Raiders do have a favorable schedule to end the season. However, if they’re embarrassed like they were against the Jets, that could mean the team is in for a rough end to the season. Week 13 against in Kansas City should be very telling.
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Josh Jacobs Needs to Bounce Back
One thing the Raiders have in their favor for the last five games of the season is that they won’t be playing a run defense as good as the Jets’. Oakland relies on their running game to set up the pass and they couldn’t get anything going against New York.
Josh Jacobs is coming off his worst game of the season, but things should look brighter for him against the Chiefs. In his first game against them, he rushed for 99 yards on only 12 carries. The Raiders lost that game by 18 points. It’s unlikely Jon Gruden makes the same mistake by not giving Jacobs the ball enough. The rookie should be in for a bounce-back game against the 30th ranked run defense in the NFL. It’s clear that the Raiders need him to play well if they’ve going to win. They are 6-1 when he carries the ball more than 15 times.
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