Josh Jacobs ate up the Panthers defense in Week 1, and it was great
By John Buhler
The Las Vegas Raiders started the year off 1-0 thanks to Josh Jacobs.
Josh Jacobs was the biggest reason the Las Vegas Raiders begin the 2020 campaign at 1-0.
Needing every carry, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden leaned on his second-year bell-cow back to beat the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte in Week 1, 34-30. It was a quietly dominant performance out of Jacobs, as he was named The Dude of the Week, Man, as well as Snickers ‘Hungriest Player’ of the Week for Week 1.
Gruden let his big dog eat en route to a satisfying victory.
Josh Jacobs is a big reason the Las Vegas Raiders can make the playoffs.
Jacobs flexed all over the Panthers defense on Sunday. The former first-round pick out of the University of Alabama in the 2019 NFL Draft ran the ball 25 times for 93 yards and three delectable trips to pay dirt. This helped Jacobs crush in many fantasy football leagues, averaging 31.9 points in Week 1. Seeing him haul in four balls out of the backfield for 46 yards was fantastic.
Though he doesn’t have an Ezekiel Elliott belly tattoo, the Raiders know their best chance to contend for an AFC Wild Card spot is to give the ball to Jacobs a ton. He may only be in his second year with the Silver and Black, but when was the last time we’ve been this collectively fired up over a Raiders running back? Marcus Allen? Has it really been that long? Oh well, he’s terrific.
With an expanded postseason field, the Raiders have a great shot at getting one of the three AFC Wild Card spots this fall. Though winning the AFC West will be tough sledding this year and for the foreseeable future with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at the division’s highest perch, Jacobs and the Raiders gave us all many reasons to be excited about their season.
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The cool part about his Week 1 performance was he went head-to-head with arguably the best running back in football in Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers and came out of Charlotte with a W. Despite traveling across country, the Raiders won in Week 1 because Jacobs came to play and was the hungriest man on the gridiron.
If the Raiders want to contend for the postseason, hand the ball to Jacobs and let him eat.