Over the past three years, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie has invested heavily in the team’s offensive line. He’s drafted guard Gabe Jackson, re-signed left tackle Donald Penn and signed high-impact free agents Rodney Hudson at center and Kelechi Osemele at left guard.
Sunday night, in a 30-20 victory over the Denver Broncos, that offensive line showed it’s worth every penny spent by team owner Mark Davis.
The Oakland plan was to use an additional lineman for much of the game, for extra run-blocking support and pass protection, and that plan worked well. Pro Football Focus, the analytic website, noted that guard Denver Kirkland played 42 of 85 Raiders offensive snaps as that extra blocker, and he had an outstanding run-blocking grade of 84.6. Pro Football Focus noted, too, that Osemele and Hudson had great all-around games, while Penn’s run-blocking mark of 89.5 was the best for either team.
The Raiders rushed for 218 yards – an average of 5.1 yards per play – with Latavius Murray (114 yards and three TDs), Jalen Richard (62) and DeAndre Washington (35) all contributing. Meanwhile, the line allowed QB Derek Carr to be sacked just twice by a team that came into the game tied for the league lead in sacks.
After Sunday’s game, Carr told Michael Silver of NFL.com that Oakland’s offensive line is “the best in the league, bar none.”
Penn told Silver that he and his linemates were blocking so well that the Raiders just ran two running plays in the second half, over and over.
“We ran the same running play 10 times in a row,” he said. “We kept wearing them down with double teams. They knew it was coming. It didn’t matter. That’s when you take somebody’s will.”
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Osemele told Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group that the Raiders’ offensive line was able to dominate.
“At the beginning of the game, their guys were chirpy, talking and all of that,” Osemele said. “In the second half, silence. It was just taking the will out of ‘em, just wearing guys down. You really can’t have a better game than that.”
McDonald reported that offensive line coach Mike Tice addressed the offensive line in the locker room after the game, telling the group it had “an amazing performance.”
The Raiders, now 7-2 and leading the AFC West, have a bye this Sunday. They next play on Monday, Nov. 21, against the Houston Texans in Mexico City.
