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Oakland Raiders: Josh Jacobs provides a much-needed edge in upset over the Bears

By Shayan Saalabi

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: Josh Jacobs of Oakland Raiders scores the winning touchdown during the game between Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: Josh Jacobs of Oakland Raiders scores the winning touchdown during the game between Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images) /
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Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs is beginning to emerge as a star in this league and his performance on Sunday was a perfect representation of his rise to stardom.

It was on Wednesday that I wrote about the joy of watching Josh Jacobs run. Even against the Chicago Bears’ vaunted defense, Jacobs gave the Oakland Raiders a chance. On Sunday, Jacobs gave the team far more than that.

No, on Sunday, Josh Jacobs gave the Raiders much-needed direction — an identity with which to pummel opposing defenses into submission. It looks like head coach Jon Gruden, who’s preached of throwing “the game back to 1998,” finally has a bruising back that can turn back the clock.

Yesterday, Jacobs rushed 26 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 21-24 upset over the Bears, whose defense had only ceded 61.5 rushing yards per game in 2019.

Alongside Josh Jacobs, backup backs Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington added another eight carries, 31 yards, and a touchdown in the Raiders’ blitzkrieg against Khalil Mack and company.

Over the last two weeks, the Bears’ defense had limited Adrian Peterson, Chris Thompson, Dalvin Cook (who’s second to only Christian McCaffrey in rushing yards through five weeks), and Alexander Mattison to a combined 106 yards on 35 carries.

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Never mind the Redskins, the Raiders committed to grinding away on the ground, leaning on Jacobs to string together scoring drives of 90 and 97 yards. The latter capped off by Jacobs high-jumping over the goal-line for the game-winner.

Jacobs (and the Raiders’ fearsome offensive line) kept the Bears’ defense mostly off-balance, allowing quarterback Derek Carr to complete passes to nine different receivers without taking a single sack.

The longest of Carr’s completions went for only 23 yards, but that might not matter much with Jacobs as the Raiders’ primary ball-carrier. Jacobs allows the Raiders to truly control possession and to pick their spots in the air with a well-timed screen or play-action pass.

Take, for example, that 23-yard completion on a key 3rd-and-1 during the Raiders’ game-winning drive. Before that pass, Jacobs pushed back against his own goal-line, spun his way for rushes of 15 and 8 yards.

And so, the Raiders, on 3rd-and-1, picked play-action. As Jacobs dashed for the dive, tight end Foster Moreau broke right before slipping uncovered back to the left side of the field. Carr then hit the wide-open Moreau for the catch-and-run.

That’s what a convincing ground attack allows you to do. It allows you to confuse otherwise-elite linebackers and defensive backs — it allows you to dictate what a defensive unit can do, forcing them to respond to you, not the other way around.

This wasn’t Khalil Mack’s revenge game. After an offseason of embarrassments and media write-offs, it was the Raiders who took revenge.

Next. Oakland Raiders: Top 5 takeaways from Week 5 victory over the Chicago Bears. dark

Knock on wood if you’re with me.

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