The Las Vegas Raiders‘ rushing game continues to be a major concern, a point highlighted in their 41-24 loss to the Washington Commanders on September 21 at Northwest Stadium.
In that game, the Raiders totaled just 93 rushing yards, with rookie Ashton Jeanty leading the way with 63. The 21-year-old carried the ball 17 times, averaging 3.7 yards per carry.
Though it shows a modest improvement, Las Vegas will need a much stronger ground attack to achieve consistent success as the season progresses. While the focus is on the Raiders’ offensive line and Jeanty, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly credits the opposing defenses for stopping their run game plans.
“I think it’s the defenses right now,” Kelly told reporters on September 25. “If you look at it statistically, Ashton Jeanty’s tied for 10th in the league for carries with two other guys. Of the top 12 backs in the National Football League through three games, there are only four who average over four yards a carry: Jonathan Taylor, Kyren Williams, Bijan Robinson, and [James] Cook from Buffalo.
“Everybody else—Saquon Barkley averages 3.3 yards per carry, Christian McCaffrey averages three yards per carry. So Ashton Jeanty’s right in the bunch with those guys. I think across the league through the first three games, defenses are ahead of offenses at a big rate… That’s just the league. Sometimes defenses are ahead, then offenses catch up, and it goes back and forth. That’s the nature of this game.”
Raiders Have Faced Top Run Defenses
In the first three games, the Silver and Black have played a couple of the top run defenses in the NFL. The New England Patriots (181 yards), Los Angeles Chargers (284 yards), and Commanders (302 yards) are the top defenses in rushing yards allowed, per Pro Football Reference.
Against the Chicago Bears, the Raiders should be able to run the football, considering the NFC North side has allowed 418 rushing yards so far this season. This Week 4 game might be what Jeanty needs to get going.
NFL Analyst Calls Out Raiders O-Line
Despite Chicago being one of the worst run defenses, it will all depend on the Las Vegas offensive line to generate running lanes for Jeanty. Nonetheless, NFL analyst Mark Schlereth isn’t sold on the Raiders’ unit after what he saw against the Commanders.
“The concern is the Raiders couldn’t block their way out of a wet paper sack,” Schlereth said during an appearance on the September 23 edition of the “Rich Eisen Show.”
“I’ve got a couple of guys on there. Daron Payne for Washington is a really good player, and I think they’ve got a bunch of really good players, but they don’t have anybody other than Daron Payne who’s an absolute war daddy on that line of scrimmage. [The Raiders] offensive line was awful. It was purely awful in this game.”
“Being unable to block anybody and then Ashton learning exactly what he is supposed to do is a bad combination right off the start. I thought the right side of their offensive line, with their right tackle and their right guard, was just subpar at best. That’s probably an insult to subpar things, but they were subpar at best.”
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