Raiders-Chiefs: Josh Jacobs has a chance to make history on Sunday

Running back needs 74 yards from scrimmage to put himself in the record books

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs made franchise history last week by surpassing Marcus Allen for the most rushing yards through the first five seasons of their careers, and Jacobs has a chance to put himself in the record books again in Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jacobs needs just 74 yards from scrimmage to record over 1,000 total yards in the first five years of his career which would make him only the second running back in the Raiders’ history to cross that threshold.

Allen is the other back to accomplish that feat with the franchise, having eclipsed the mark almost 40 years ago in 1986. League-wide, the 2022 rushing champ would also be just the ninth player at the position since 2000 to accomplish the feat.

So, now the question becomes; can he do it this Sunday?

Jacobs is notably having a down year statistically this season, however, he’s still recorded more than 74 yards from scrimmage in seven out of 11 games on the campaign. In one of the four outliers, he was close to the mark with 71 yards. The other three instances have come against the Bills (49 yards), Bears (41) and last week versus the Dolphins (51).

In eight career games against the Chiefs, Jacobs averages 87.7 total yards and has been above the magic number four times. He has a couple of triple-digit performances to boost that per-game figure up a bit, including a 193-yard performance in Kansas City last season. He also hovered around 74 total yards the second time these two teams met in 2021 with 70 yards from scrimmage.

While the Chiefs’ defense has been much improved and stingy this season, they are susceptible to giving up yards against running backs. Through 10 games, they average 111.1 yards from scrimmage surrendered to the position.

Granted, that’s to an opponent’s running backs as a whole and not one specific player, but the Raiders don’t give many backs other than Jacobs the rock very often. Zamir White has the second most carries among Las Vegas’ running backs with 17 in 11 games and Ameer Abdullah ranks second in receptions with 11. For reference, Jacobs has 200 carries and 31 catches on the year.

So, it looks like Jacobs has a pretty good chance to make history on Sunday. And even if it doesn’t happen this weekend, he has five more opportunities to pick up those 74 yards before the season’s end.