ESPN NFL

If you listen to the talking heads, the main reason that the Oakland Raiders are struggling is because WR Jerry Porter is missing, and without his speed teams are able to play tighter coverage without the fear of getting burned deep. While that is in part true, it's too simplistic a view and not entirely accurate.

If you look back to 2001, the Raiders had the seventh ranked offense in the league and Porter wasn't much of a factor. He caught only 19 passes and averaged less than 12 yards a catch. And even though it was two years ago, it's not like Jerry Rice and Tim Brown were speed merchants.

They were able to overcome their lack of speed because they showed a commitment to the ground game. The Raiders were only the 24th ranked rush offense that year, but they ran the ball 28.1 times a game.

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