Revitalized Jacobs lifts Raiders

While the Las Vegas Raiders welcomed a very special visitor during Saturday’s light practice, the club’s All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs received some very specific advice heading into Sunday night’s matchup against the Jets of New York, if not, for the rest of the campaign. — of said guest.

Bo Jackson, the standout who played for the Raiders from 1987 to 1991, had Jacobs’ undivided attention.

“Man, if you run over a bad guy…, you pick him up,” he told Jacobs. “You tell him, ‘Okay, I’ll be back in 40 seconds.'”

“And,” Jacobs shared quietly, “I’ve tried to do that in my head.”

During the Raiders’ 16-12 victory over the Jets that brought Las Vegas to 5-5 (2-0 under interim head coach Antonio Pierce), Jacobs set a season-high 116 yards, his first game of more than a hundred on the ground since December 4, 2022, period of 14 games. That stretch also included Jacobs rushing for -2 yards against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, the first time since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger that a leading defensive back finished a game with negative rushing yards.

And, with the toughest part of the Raiders’ schedule right around the corner (visiting the Miami Dolphins (6-3) next Sunday and at home against the Kansas City Chiefs (7-2) on Nov. 26) , the Raiders are going to need Jacobs to continue his production of the last two weeks.

Consider that under former play-by-play coach Josh McDaniels, Jacobs struggled to get going on the field, gaining 408 yards at a 3.1 yards per carry average with three rushing touchdowns in eight games. It’s worth noting that Jacobs stayed away from the organization throughout the offseason, training camp and preseason program thanks to a contract dispute.

Under interim offensive coordinator Bo Hartitle, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive play-calling following McDaniels’ departure on Oct. 31, Jacobs rushed for a combined 214 yards with an average of 4.0 yards per attempt. , and two scores in two games.

The Dolphins, coming off their bye, have the NFL’s 13th-ranked run defense. The Chiefs have the 17th unit.

Against the Jets’ feared defensive front, Jacobs ran behind a reinvented offensive line with starting left tackle Kolton Miller out with injury. Jermaine Eluemunor moved to left tackle from the right flank and Thayer Munford Jr. started in his place.

The Raiders’ running game got off to a slow start, with Jacobs managing just one carry for two yards in the first quarter. He had 28 yards on nine carries at halftime.

Pierce said one of his messages to the Raiders earlier in the week was the need to impose his will.

“And the only way to do it is two ways, right? Stop the run on defense and run the ball on offense,” Pierce said.

“In the second half, you saw the moment it was, right? It was the Josh Jacobs moment. It was the hammer moment. And you saw the energy, not only with our offensive line, our running back in our offense, but our “He changed our whole mentality in that third period, and I think that’s where things started to change in our favor.”

As Jacobs said, “I told [Pierce] on the sidelines, ‘Nobody wants to be a burden.’ I said, ‘Shit, I want to be that burden. Leave that burden on me and no matter what happens, I’ll be able to live with that one.'”

“I really felt like it was a battle. He was getting hit by three or four [Jets players] on some plays. It was like, ‘Wow!'”

It was late in the third quarter when Jacobs finally broke away within one, his 40-yard run up the middle and then to the right the longest of the season. And he gave credit to right guard Greg Van Roten.

“Look, [the Jets] want to throw you out,” Van Roten told Jacobs in the pregame meeting. “Stay inside. Just trust.”

Jacobs’ response?

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he told his offensive lineman.

“Literally, on the next play, we made that big play,” Jacobs said.

It was Jacobs’ 16th career game with at least 100 rushing yards, breaking a tie with Clem Daniels for the second most in Raiders history. Only Hall of Famer Marcus Allen has more at 22.

But it didn’t come without drama. Why would it be like this? After all, these are the Raiders and they rarely do things the easy way.

Or did they miss the play in which Jacobs lost a fumble (his second of the game) at the Jets’ 25-yard line with more than six minutes left in a drive that could have sealed the outcome much sooner?

Instead, the Jets drove to the Raiders’ 20-yard line, where middle linebacker Robert Spillane intercepted Jets quarterback Zach Wilson at the 15-yard line, returning the ball 25 yards with 74 seconds left.

Still, the Raiders had to punt and the defense had to contain another final Hail Mary pass attempt to save the score.

And in that moment he was able to really exhale Jacobs.

“I just hoped the defense wouldn’t let me down,” he said with a smile, shaking his head, “because I didn’t want to be the reason for the loss.

“Today they saved me, so I went in person and shook everyone’s hand after the game.”

He speaks of a special visit and a specific message. One that should reside in the heart for the remainder of the campaign in general, in Miami over the following weekend in particular.