Oakland Raiders: Keys To Victory Over Minnesota Vikings
By Kevin Saito
Nov 8, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (28) runs the ball against Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Mitchell (23) during the second half at Heinz Field. The Steelers won the game, 38-35. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
Get The Ground Game Moving
Prior to getting knocked out of the game on a devastating shot by Steelers safety Mike Mitchell, Oakland running back Latavius Murray had been putting together a nice game. Of course, he’s been putting together a pretty nice season. Murray is on pace to break 1,000 yards rushing and is currently leading all AFC backs in rushing with 630 yards – which is good for seventh in the NFL as a whole.
At the time he got knocked out of the game, Murray had 17 rushes for 96 yards and a healthy 5.7 yards per carry average. For the season, he’s averaging 4.8 yards per carry and is averaging just under 80 yards of rushing per contest.
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Part of setting the tone and dictating the pace to Minnesota will be getting Murray heavily involved in the offensive game plan.
Run him early and run him often. While Minnesota is pretty good against the pass, opposing teams have had some success against them on the ground. The Vikings currently rank eighteenth against the run, giving up a tick under 112 yards per contest.
What Musgrave is going to want to do though, is not try to power up the middle where Linval Joseph is waiting and Minnesota is pretty stout. He’s going to want to do what he’s done the last few weeks and attack the edges. Perhaps not so coincidentally, as Musgrave has shifted away from running between the tackles and attacking the edges with a bit more frequency, Murray’s productivity and explosiveness have vastly improved.
They will find room to run on the edges against Minnesota and they would do well to feed the Vikings a steady diet of Murray with some dashes of Taiwan Jones for extra flavor. The run will set up the pass and make life that much more comfortable for Carr and his receivers.
Next: Next Man Up