Eight rushes for two yards.
That was Darren McFadden’s rushing total Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. But it wasn’t as though he was given a lot of opportunity to try to add to the total.
McFadden’s eight rushes accounted for two-thirds of the team’s attempts on the day. Overall Hue Jackson dialed up just 12 rushing attempts for 16 yards, 13 of which came from a single Jacoby Ford rush.
Conversely, the Dolphins ran the ball 49 times for 186 yards.
“Some of it is staying with it more. Some of it is being more consistent like we were the early part of the season,” Raiders head coach Tom Cable said on Monday. “You look back, I think the first two runs yesterday were minus-two and minus-three. So, that’s a pretty good indicator we got a helmet in the wrong place or missed a cut or both.”
Given McFadden’s early season success, teams are crowding the box in an effort to slow him down.
It worked.
“You’re going to see eight- and nine-man boxes,” said Cable. “That’s what happens when you’re a good running football team. So you have to be able to handle that. Our system has been built to handle that. That’s part of the deal.”
