The Las Vegas Raiders‘ lack of a run game continues to be an issue after their 41-24 loss to the Washington Commanders on September 21 at Northwest Stadium.
Las Vegas recorded 93 total rushing yards, with 63 coming from rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. The 21-year-old had 17 carries and averaged 3.7 rushing yards per game. It’s a baby step in the right direction, but it’s not enough if the Silver and Black want to win games consistently.
After the loss, Raiders head coach Pete Carroll acknowledged that the run game issues continue for Las Vegas, but he praised the game that Jeanty had against the Commanders.
“We have to balance out what we’re doing so we can mix better,” Carroll told reporters postgame. “We didn’t run the football at all early, and then when we did, we drove the football. We made our scores.
“Once we got going, I thought Ashton did a really good job with his opportunities. He got a lot of carries today. It was a good ball game for him. It was tough, and he played tough and showed you how he does it.”
Raiders Need to Lean on Run Game to Open Up the Pass
Three weeks into the NFL, the Raiders haven’t found that consistency in the running game, but against the Commanders, they did show flashes. As a result, veteran Geno Smith stated that the team needs to figure out how to establish the run early to make life easier for the offense.
“Extremely important [to establish the run],” Smith told reporters postgame. “But more importantly, we got to dominate the line of scrimmage — we got to own the line of scrimmage. That’s football in a nutshell. If you can win the line of scrimmage, you can win a lot of games.
“If you can win the line of scrimmage, control the turnover battle, get first downs, convert in the red zone, be great in situations — you can win a lot of games. So yeah, it’s a lot of things that we can do better, but I look forward to getting it right.“
Geno Smith Offers Ashton Jeanty Advice
Jeanty is just three games into his NFL career and still adjusting to life at the pro level. The Raiders‘ 2025 first-round pick is learning what part of his college success can translate to the NFL. In the meantime, the veteran quarterback shared some advice with his young teammate.
“Just sticking with it,” Smith added. “It’s not college—I mean, that’s the reality. It’s a big boy league, and it’s going to be tough every week. There are no cupcakes. There are no lollypops. It’s big boy football, week in and week out. We’ve got to help him all around him. We’ve got to be better so that he can go out there and show what he can do, because he can do it.
He showed it in the NFL. He can do it. He’s running guys over, making guys miss. We’ve just got to open up space for him. I’ve got to get some better checks, get some better run calls, so that he can go out there and showcase what he’s capable of.”
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