Oakland Raiders: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Vs. Ravens
By Kevin Saito
The Bad: Ground Game Woes
Oakland came into the game with the league’s second best rushing attack. The Ravens came into the game with the league’s second best run defense. And in this game, it was the defense that won out. Handily.
Latavius Murray, DeAndre Washington, and Jalen Richard were held in check by the Ravens’ stout defensive front. A rushing attack that had been doing a great job all year of gashing opposing defenses for solid gains at opportune times was suddenly rendered all but impotent.
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For the game, Murray averaged a paltry 2.4 yards per carry (eight rushes for 19 yards). Richard got a pair of carries and managed 15 yards on them. And Washington was the most effective, gaining 30 yards on his five carries – the caveat being that 28 of those yards came on one run.
Add to that, the Raiders were held without a rushing touchdown for the first time this season and Washington, after a terrific 17 yard fourth quarter scamper and coughed up the ball. What mad it all the more egregious is that Washington’s fumble – the first the team has lost this season – set the Ravens up at Oakland’s 17 yard line. Baltimore would go on to punch it in four plays later for the 27-21 advantage.
Overall, Oakland’s ball security has been top notch. They have but two turnovers on the year – third best in the league – but Washington’s fumble came at a very inpportune moment. It was costly, but thanks to outstanding efforts by the defense and offense, it wasn’t as costly as it could have been.
Taken as a whole, the Raiders had a miserable day running the ball. Though, it was in large part, expected given the buzzsaw they ran into that was Baltimore’s run defense.