After Struggles, This Raiders Unit Finally Shows Life

LAS VEGAS, Nev.-- The Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line took most of the blame for the team's early-season woes. The Raiders lost starting guard Jackson Powers-Johnson to an injury heading into Week 2, forcing him to miss two games.

His absence was a large part of why Las Vegas' offensive line struggled during Week 2 and Week 3. The unit was unable to create running lanes for running back Ashton Jeanty. They also struggled to block for Geno Smith, allowing him to be sacked at an alarmingly high rate.

Analyzing the Raiders' Loss to the Bears

Although Las Vegas' offensive line struggled without Powers-Johnson, his return sparked the best game the Raiders have had on the ground in nearly two seasons. Minus Geno Smith's turnovers, the Raiders' offense performed well against the Bears in Week 4.

Following the Raiders' loss to the Bears, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll explained his thoughts after watching the film. The Raiders have lost three consecutive games, but Carroll was encouraged by what he saw from the Bears.

"Yeah, when I got back to the office last night, I wasn't sure how I felt about the game and how it could affect us. It did affect us, and watching the film, the way the defense played under all of the challenges that they had, the aggressiveness, the consistency all the way throughout, the challenges of the sudden changes, I thought they were spectacular in that in putting forth a great effort," Carroll said.

Carroll noted that the emergence of the Raiders' ground game was arguably the best part of Sunday's matchup against the Bears.

After drafting Ashton Jeanty with the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft, the Raiders desperately need him to break loose after weeks of struggling behind Las Vegas' line.

"For us to come out of that game and run the football as well as we did and protect the quarterback as well as we did, to see Ashton [Jeanty]. You guys have all said it, everybody's been saying he just needs to break one run or whatever," Carroll said.

"Well, he did, and he had a great game, and he looked fantastic for us, and Raheem [Mostert] was really good too. I thought the two complemented well, and I thought Chip [Kelly] did a nice job of taking what was there in the running game."

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