Proving it: Josh Jacobs runs Raiders to win, builds on his record-breaking year

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Most of the players on the home team were already in the locker room by the time the Raiders House Band launched into a rendition of James Brown’s “I Got You” as fans exited Allegiant Stadium Sunday evening.

Josh Jacobs, on the other hand, was taking his time getting off the field as he roamed slowly with a black Gatorade towel draped over his head and a smile stretched widely across his face. The fourth-year running back was walking away from the North end zone, above where the band was playing but the female vocalist might as well have been singing directly to him as she drug out the iconic “I feel good” lyric.

No one felt better than Jacobs in the aftermath of his third straight record-breaking game to propel the Raiders to a 38-20 victory over the Houston Texans.

“Winning is always fun to me,” Jacobs said a few minutes later in his post-game news conference. “To see the guys come out on both sides of the ball with that intensity and that fire, I just sit there and take a second sometimes when I’m on the sideline to absorb it all and see the guys’ energy and what they have in their eyes. I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re headed in the right direction.’”

With a 2-4 record on the season, the Raiders remain far outside of the current postseason picture, but the way Jacobs is playing gives them hope that a historic turnaround — only one team in the past 20 years has made the playoffs after an 0-3 start — is possible. He had 20 carries for 143 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Texans, making him the first Raider running back since Napoleon Kaufman in 1997 to record three straight 100-yard games on the ground.

In his 49^th game with the Raiders, Jacobs surpassed Hall of Famer Marcus Allen for the most rushing yards in franchise history through a player’s first 50 games. With three catches for 12 additional yards, Jacobs also became the first Raider since Allen in 1985 to have at least 150 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in three straight games according to ESPN Stats and Info.

“It’s a blessing to be in this position,” Jacobs said.

The accomplishment that made Jacobs proudest, however, was pulling his team to victory in the fourth quarter during what had otherwise been a frustrating day. Las Vegas struggled with Houston, a team it was expected to beat, through the first three quarters as the offense was hit-or-miss and the defense was almost entirely miss.

The Raiders’ put together one touchdown drive right before halftime only after Jacobs caught a pass and 4th-and-1 pass at the Texans’ 33-yard line where he stumbled but was able to pick up four yards. Two plays later, Derek Carr zipped a 26-yard pass down the seam between defenders to receiver Mack Hollins for the Raiders’ only non-Jacobs offensive touchdown.

That made the score 10-10 at halftime even though the Texans, whom missed a field goal on its opening drive, had been the more efficient team behind rookie running back Dameon Pierce, who finished with 92 rushing yards on 20 carries.

“When I saw him in the first half and he had more rushing yards, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got to turn it on,’” Jacobs said. “I can’t let him outwork me.”

Pierce didn’t come close to outworking Jacobs from there, as the Raiders’ running back scored his first touchdown midway through the third quarter on a 4-yard toss sweep where he ran through multiple arm tackles. That put the Raiders up 17-13, their first lead since 3-0.

It didn’t last long as Texans quarterback Davis Mills, who recorded 302 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing 29 of 41 pass attempts, fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Dorsett. But that would be Houston’s last big moment.

Jacobs sparked the whole team by taking over on the next two drives. He exploded through a hole and flattened two defenders at the goal line on a 7-yard touchdown dive up the middle with seven minutes left on the clock. On his final score, he went untouched on a 15-yard counter where he outraced two defensive backs on a Texans’ defense Carr called the fastest he’s ever seen.

That meant it was three touchdowns in three distinctly different ways for Jacobs.

“Josh is one of the best backs in the league,” Carr said.

That may sound obvious now, but it wasn’t that way coming into the year. The new Raiders’ braintrust of coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler seemed to have doubts based on their personnel moves.

They signed two free agent running backs (Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah) in March and then drafted two more (Zamir White and Brittain Brown) in April to telegraph plans to implement their preferred running-back-by-committee approach.

In August when the team began preseason, Jacobs was the only star player asked to play any snaps in the exhibition games. Then, in September, McDaniels didn’t announce Jacobs as a captain, a role he held last season.

“Even though he’s not like a captain with the (official NFL jersey) patch, in my eyes, he’s a captain for us,” rookie right tackle Thayer Munford said. “He’s still going to be him. He’s going to still do the things he does. I love him to death. I respect him. Everyone respects him.”

Defensive captain and edge rusher Maxx Crosby has spoken recently of being inspired by Jacobs, and it sure looked like the case against the Texans. The Raiders’ defense didn’t force a punt until the fourth quarter after Crosby stuffed Pierce for no gain on a 3^rd-and-1 run at the Texans’ 33-yard line.

The stadium electrified more than it had at any other point of the day, and stayed that way as the next drive was Jacobs’ final touchdown. Veteran safety Duron Harmon then iced the victory with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown — his first pick-six in his 11-year NFL career.

The only downside of Harmon's score for the Raiders was it didn’t give Jacobs a chance for another carry where he could have set a career-high for the third straight game. Jacobs had 144 yards in a Week 4 win against the Broncos, and 154 in a Week 5 loss at the Chiefs.

Jacobs couldn’t have cared less as his postgame beaming hit another level when he had a surprise visitor outside the locker room — Allen. Jacobs didn’t know the former Raider great was in attendance or that he broke one of his records until the encounter.

“To be able to take the time to mentor me and talk to me about the things he sees, I don’t really take that for granted,” Jacobs said. “It’s huge to have him here and have him happy for me to beat his record.”

Jacobs might not have been feeling loved from the Raiders’ organization coming into the season, but he certainly is now. Despite all the decisions that went against him, Jacobs has consistently said he never took any of them personally.

He wanted to let his work speak for itself. That’s happening in a big-time fashion, even though Jacobs says he has a long way to go.

“It’s hard to have self-satisfaction because obviously we’re still on the bottom end of the winning pole,” Jacobs said. “It’s still a long season. If I don’t play good the rest of the season then everything I did up to now doesn’t really mean anything. The biggest thing for me is I want to get in the playoffs, I want to go on a run and feel what it feels like to actually experience that.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or