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Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty.
For the first few weeks of the season, Ashton Jeanty’s lack of productivity has been a major talking point. The Las Vegas Raiders‘ first-round pick hadn’t been able to get things going through three games.
That changed in Week 4 against the Chicago Bears. He had 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns (one rushing, two receiving). He also averaged 6.6 yards per carry, which was a huge improvement from what the Raiders saw in the first three games.
Unfortunately, the team couldn’t capitalize on Jeanty’s big game, as the Bears ended up winning 25-24. The Raiders had a chance to win, but they couldn’t overcome Geno Smith’s three interceptions.
Despite that, the offense got Daniel Carlson in position to hit the game-winning field goal, but it was blocked. Though Jeanty has to be feeling better now that he’s had a breakout game, the fact that the team lost clearly put a damper on things.
“Definitely not a good feeling,” Jeanty said after the game. “Now we gotta get back and look at how we can get better and learn from this.”
Once the Raiders’ run game and passing game can play a complete game together, they might be a hard team to beat.
Raiders Have to Feel Good About Jeanty
One silver lining the Raiders can take from this loss is that Jeanty is the real deal. The team took a big risk by selecting him with the No. 6 pick in the first round of the draft. It’s very rare that running backs get selected that high these days.
Luckily, he showed off what makes him a special player. He broke off a few big runs and made plays in the pass game. He was vaunted for his ability to break tackles in college and proved that he can be just as difficult to take down at the NFL level if he can get some space.
If Jeanty keeps getting better, the Raiders have one of the best young weapons in the NFL. They just need to get the quarterback situation figured out.
Pete Carroll Laments Second Home Loss
The Raiders are now 1-3, and 0-2 at home this season. Head coach Pete Carroll was very disappointed that the team failed to win in front of the home fans again.
“It’s tough to come in here twice, for our fans, and not come out of here with wins,” Carroll told reporters after the game. “We really set our sights on getting this thing jump-started today, and we didn’t quite get that done. It’s still out there for us.”
The fact that the Raiders have a hard time getting Raiders fans to show up to their home games has been a big talking point. It’s only going to get harder to get those fans to show up if they can’t win.
The Raiders’ next home game is against a very bad Tennessee Titans team, so that should be the time for them to get back on track. If they somehow lose to the Titans at home, it’s hard to imagine any fans are going to want to go to Allegiant Stadium the rest of the season.
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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