The Las Vegas Raiders are in a deep hole, having dropped four straight games, and it’s clear their offense is completely out of whack. Quarterback Kirk Cousins might be third in the NFL with a whopping 1,877 passing yards and has tossed 16 touchdown passes, but those numbers aren’t translating into wins.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Run Game’s a Ghost Town
Look, 1,877 passing yards and 16 touchdowns sounds great on paper for Cousins, right? But the reality is the Raiders have absolutely nothing to show for it. They’re reeling from four consecutive losses, and the reason is stark: they can’t run the ball to save their lives. This team is sitting at 30th in the entire league with a pathetic 523 rushing yards. Even worse, their 3.0 yards per carry average is better than only the Green Bay Packers. Think about that for a second. For four straight weeks, they haven’t even cracked 75 rushing yards. Against the Rams, Cousins chucked it 44 times, while the team only ran the ball a measly 17 times. That’s not just an imbalance, that’s a full-blown crisis.
Two Minds, One Problem: A Fix That Divides
Raiders coach Klint Kubiak sees the problem loud and clear, and he’s not holding back. “We need to take advantage of the run better. We’ve got to get better there. Quit throwing it so much,” Kubiak said Wednesday. Coming from the guy calling the plays, that’s less a suggestion and more a full-on confession. He made the same point right after that brutal loss to the Rams, too: “You can’t win in this league having to throw it as much as we’re throwing it.”
Cousins, on the other hand, while acknowledging the issue, sees the solution from a different angle. For him, the best way to kickstart the run game is for *him* to throw the ball better, especially on those crucial third downs. He figures if they convert more third downs, they stay on the field, which means more plays, and that means more chances to run the ball. “Well, when you convert third downs, you stay on the field and give yourself three more plays, which could be three more runs to get the run game going,” Cousins explained. He’s also convinced that scoring early and playing with a lead gives them a better shot to run the football, linking it back to red zone efficiency and those “four-point plays”,the difference between a touchdown and a field goal. The problem? The Raiders are leaving those four-point plays all over the field, going a dismal 3 for 14 on third down against the Rams and a brutal 3 for 10 in the red zone over their last two games.
So, you’ve got the coach saying “run more,” and the quarterback saying “throw better to enable the run.” The truth is, both need to happen, and fast, because right now, this team is stuck in neutral and quickly sinking.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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