Oakland Raiders v. Miami Dolphins: Four Things That Must Happen
By Kevin Saito
Get the Run Game Going
A topic of conversation that should be talked about more is Oakland’s lack of a running game. More specifically than that though, when we say “lack of a running game,” we mean, the fact that Downing isn’t using his running backs.
Like, at all.
Oakland is currently dead last in the league in rushing attempts for the season. That’s thirty-second out of thirty-two teams. They are clocking in with just over twenty rushing attempts per game.
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And before you say, “well, this is a passing-based offense,” yes, you’d be right. But this passing-based offense relies on a potent running game. Or at least, the threat of one.
In 2016, Oakland’s offense ranked eleventh in the league in rushing attempts, averaging just over twenty-seven per game. And with a 1,000-yard rusher in Latavius Murray, combined with the complementary punch added by lightning-quick scatbacks Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington, opposing defenses had to respect Oakland’s run game.
And because opposing defenses had to respect the run game, Carr and the offense thrived.
With a potent run game, which feeds into a potent play-action game, the field opens up for the passing game. It seems to be football 101, and yet, for whatever mind-boggling reason it is, Downing has more or less, taken that crucial piece of Oakland’s offense off the board.
If Downing and the Raiders want to make an inspired run through the back half of their schedule, and have their offense to even come close to the level they played at last year, they’re going to have to start running the ball.
Marshawn Lynch, though maybe not a 25-30 touch back anymore, needs to start getting more than ten carries a game. Richard and Murray also must see an increase in their workload. Without an effective running game – or just the threat of one – Downing is handcuffing this offense in a major way.
And if Oakland has any hope of turning their season around, it’s got to start there.