As I mentioned last week, the Las Vegas Raiders (1-3) consistently find a way to lose.
On Sunday, the Raiders will face a team that has spent much of the season finding a way to win.
The Indianapolis Colts (3-1) didn’t suffer a loss until last week’s 27-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Before the Rams’ loss, the Colts spent the first three weeks beating Miami, Denver, and Tennessee.
Daniel Jones has found new life in Indianapolis. The New York Giants castaway is completing 71.9% of his passes and has thrown four touchdowns while running for three more.
Keys:
Run The Ball
There are times when the score dictates how many carries a team has, but it isn’t an accident that the two teams that committed to running the ball (Denver and Los Angeles) gave the Colts the most trouble. Let’s be honest, Denver should have won that game.
Las Vegas needs to be in the neighborhood of 30 carries if they want to win over the road at Indianapolis. Even though Kolton Miller will be out, the Raiders can’t abandon the run.
Ashton Jeanty had his first career 100-yard game, but Chip Kelly’s game plan should include more touches for Raheem Mostert.
Geno Needs to Find His Mojo
The Raiders can live with Geno Smith’s interceptions if he’s trying to be aggressive. That happens, no matter the quarterback.
What this team can’t live with are the bad decision interceptions, and Smith had three of those last week.
Part of this is on Las Vegas’ front office. The front office did a poor job with the wide receiver room. The Raiders can’t have a collection of “C” level receivers along with Jakobi Meyers, who is more of a complementary receiver than a number one.
There are times when Smith doesn’t have anyone to throw to because the receivers haven’t generated separation, and Kelly’s scheme isn’t getting them open.
Stop the Run
If you’re the Colts, you know you made the right decision at quarterback, but let’s be honest, Daniels is producing because he has the 8th-best rushing game in the NFL.
Jonathan Taylor leads the NFL in rushing yards, and the Colts are committed to having him at the top of the game plan.
How does a poor-tackling Raiders team handle this? Gang tackling. As simple as it may sound, the Raiders must pursue the ball-carrier with multiple players and prevent Taylor from having one-on-ones at the second and third levels.
If that happens, the Raiders will give up several chunk plays on the ground.
