Raiders may have their closer in Josh Jacobs

[Rusher]

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There wasn’t much flashy about the way the Raiders closed out the Colts yesterday.

And that might be the best sign for their season.

Running for 188 yards as a team was good, but rookie Josh Jacobs showing he could be the guy grinding out first downs and killing the clock was something the Raiders sorely needed.

“There’s a lot of pride in that,” Jacobs said, via Scott Bair of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “As a running back, you are relied upon to close the game. It was a close game at the end. It was huge for us to finish.”

The overall number was buoyed by wide receiver Trevor Davis‘ 60-yard touchdown run, but Jacobs was solid throughout the day, with 17 carries for 79 yards. He also had 29 receiving yards.

“We like our running game,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “Obviously with the rotating guards as we’ve had — I think we’ve played three different left guards in three different right guards, I’m really pleased and proud — very proud. This guy Josh Jacobs is going to be a great back. As long as I don’t screw it up, he’s going to be one hell of a player. He can really run — he’s got great vision. I think he’s got breakaway speed and power.

“It’s a credit to everybody when you run the ball the way we ran it. It wasn’t a bunch of RPOs and single-back lateral runs. It was old-fashioned, hard-nosed football. It takes tight-ends, it takes every lineman, it takes everybody to do it.”

And having a guy you can trust in the fourth quarter obviously helps.