Josh Jacobs had six games in 2022 with at least 100 rushing yards. He had two more games with 90+ rushing yards while he was on his way to becoming the NFL’s leading rusher.
But Jacobs hasn’t had that type of success in 2023. Not at all. Not only is he still working to get his first 100-yard game of the season, he has yet to exceed 80 rushing yards in any contest. To say it’s been a struggle for Jacobs would be quite an understatement.
Could this week be the game where he finally gets back on track? In a recent article by Paul Gutierrez of ESPN, he predicted that Jacobs would have his first 100-yard game of the season on Monday Night Football:
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs will have his first 100-yard rushing game since Dec. 4, 2022, a stretch of 12 games. Yes, he’ll do it against the Lions’ No. 3-ranked run defense, which has given up just 534 yards on the ground in seven games.
Jacobs has been getting close to breaking out in recent weeks, and the Raiders will need to establish the run game if they don’t want to get blown out.
Jacobs is averaging a career-low 2.94 yards per carry this season, which is among the lowest in the NFL among qualifying players. That is a pretty significant drop from last year when he averaged 4.9 yards per rush.
If Jacobs is going to eclipse 100 yards in Week 8, he’s going to need to bust off some long runs. That just hasn’t happened this year at all. But under the lights in primetime is a great spot for Jacobs to get back on track.
