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Graney: Running angry, Josh Jacobs leads Raiders to win

When he’s rolling, he’s not talking. There is a silence to Josh Jacobs. A hush to his violent running style.

“You can feel it in the huddle,” Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow said. “He hasn’t been able to show it much this year, but he’s a special player.

“We’re going to need him these last two games if we’re going to make the playoffs.”

Yeah. That last part is possible. More than you might think. Crazy stuff.

Jacobs firmly put the Raiders on his back in the second half against Denver at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, helping the hosts keep those postseason dreams alive with a 17-13 win.

This is the time of year when Jacobs has inevitably felt weary and run-down, but the first-round pick in his third season looked anything but tired those final 30 pound-it-out minutes.

And suddenly, a Raiders team that recently lost five of six games is in control of its playoff destiny. If they win at Indianapolis on Sunday and then end by beating the Chargers here, the Raiders are in. Think about that.

If such a narrative is written, they will look to the second half against Denver as a major reason.

Bouncing back

Jacobs fumbled late in the first half — a miscue that the Broncos turned into three points — and looked like the middle-of-the-pack NFL back ranked 28th out of 62 eligible players at his position by Pro Football Focus.

He has been, for the most part, merely OK this year after consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Average. Not even that some weeks.

He fumbled once Sunday and nearly had another before being ruled down. He has also run behind one of the league’s most maligned offensive lines. So there’s that.

But something happened between the Raiders departing to boos at intermission and returning to accept the second-half kickoff. A switch was flipped. A mindset discovered. A running back re-energized. A front awoken.

Think about it: In that opening drive of the second half, the Raiders went 75 yards in nine plays over 4:38. Jacobs would carry seven times for 57 yards — an average of 8.1 per rush — before giving way to backup Peyton Barber on first-and-goal from the 5.

Barber would score on the next play, jog to the sidelines and hand Jacobs the ball.

It was his drive. His moment.

“I went into halftime talking to the coaches and saying, ‘Let me get into a rhythm,’” Jacobs said. “Just give me a chance to play the style of ball that I want to play. I notice that I (stop talking) in those moments. Everything slows down. I get quiet and in that zone.”

The century mark

Jacobs carried 27 times for 129 yards, significant because it’s his first 100-yard game of the season. The last time he reached such a mark was Nov. 15 of last year against these Broncos.

He took contact and bounced away Sunday. Derek Carr said he would hand the ball off, look back and the quarterback would see nothing available. Then Jacobs would make something from it.

Time and again, Denver crashed its defenders downhill at Jacobs. Time and again, he stuck his shoulder into them and gained positive yardage.

Maybe it was the shoes.

The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss who is mean-tempered. Jacobs on Sunday had a pair of custom cleats with a Grinch-like theme.

Funny. He then went out and ran angrier than he has in some time.

“We all like to play with a little edge to ourselves,” said interim head coach Rich Bisaccia. “That’s what Josh does when he carries the football.”

Angry and oh-so-silent.

Just the combination the Raiders needed to win, move forward and at least be within smelling distance of the playoffs.

Crazy stuff is right.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.

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