Raider run ‘D’ can be revived against Chicago

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, November 09, 2007  |  Comments( 33 )

Oakland Raiders
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Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson told reporters this week, "The sun will be shining soon."

The implied "sun" is the Oakland Raiders' defense. "Soon" is Sunday.

In a Week 10 meeting with Oakland, Benson will search for the light at the end of a dark, seemingly never-ending tunnel that has quickly become the 2007 season.

Through eight games this year, the 24-year-old halfback has rushed for just 466 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 149 carries. That's only 3.1 yards per attempt on over 18 rushes per game. Of all running backs in the NFL ranked in the top 20 in attempts per game, Benson is 18th in yardage, just in front of Tampa Bay's Earnest Graham and Atlanta's Warrick Dunn.

Graham is an undrafted free agent, though, and Dunn is a 32-year-old veteran who splits carries.

Benson, on the other hand, is a former fourth overall draft choice in 2005 who's playing under a five-year, $35 million contract. He's supposed to be the go-to guy on Chicago's offense.

It hasn't been quite that way this season. The 3-5 Bears rank 31st in the league in rushing offense, in front of only the Green Bay Packers, whose starting running back is Ryan Grant. Who?

Don't expect Oakland to ease up, though.

This meeting is just as big for the Raider 'D' as it is for Benson. Whichever party comes out on top will be on the receiving end of a much-needed confidence boost heading into the later stages of the season.

The Bears' second-to-worst-ranked ground attack will be lined up against the Raiders' third-to-last rush defense. It's an ugly matchup, but an important one.

Oakland's 'D' surrenders 152.2 yards on the ground each game. Most importantly, it's allowed an NFL-worst 5.1 yards per carry and has given up the most rushing touchdowns in the league.

"We're not overlooking these guys," Benson admitted of the Raider defense. "[We can look] at film like, 'Oh, they gave Ron Dayne 100 yards, so we definitely can do this and this and this.' [But] we've still got to game-plan and prepare for a battle."

You can bet that the game plan will be to continually run the ball.

Passing on the Raiders is a task easier said than done, particularly if Brian Griese is your quarterback. Running is a different story. Every team has been able to do it.

If Benson can't get the job done against Oakland, the Bears may want to re-evaluate their talent at running back.

But, on the other spectrum, the Raiders will have something positive to look forward to. That's important, especially if your Week 11 contest is one with the NFL's leading rusher, Minnesota Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson.

Anthony Carroll, a senior writer for RealFootball365.com, can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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CommentsComments: 33  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Florida Raider		09:35 AM
11/09/2007
Nice job AC, but a little more insight into the article might would have made it better. We know our D line is banged up but...
No.2
Raider Revenge		09:45 AM
11/09/2007
I'm still in and this game is important for the remaining Raiders who have not thrown in the towel as of yet. Da bears do not...
No.3
La Milicia Negra		09:54 AM
11/09/2007
this game is winnable, but Ryan needs to put more guys on the line. Its fantastic that Gerard Warren is back, that means we could...
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