Raiders' Offensive Line Trying to Turn the Corner

The Las Vegas Raiders are coming off their best all-around game of the season against the Green Bay Packers and now have another home game against a legendary franchise, the New England Patriots.

While there are many storylines to choose from with this game, the Raiders' offensive line's success might be their most important topic. 

"We're excited to have another home game," Raiders guard Greg Van Roten told Sports Illustrated. "It will be a good challenge for us. They do a lot of stuff schematically so it will be a good test.

"I think we're feeling pretty good. Every day we're trying to make improvements. You want to get better every day and figure things to work on. We just want to play our best game every week." 

The Patriots might be 1-4; however, Van Roten and the offensive line are not letting their guard down.

"Their whole defensive line, you have to know who's who over there," Van Roten said. "They have a lot of guys who play linebacker and a lot of experience in the system as well. As a unit, they play really well together. We have a lot of stuff that we're going to have to be able to handle."

While progress has been made, the offensive line still needs to clean up plenty of things, specifically its communication. 

"Pre-snap communication," Van Roten said. "We've had some issues the first few games. We just want to make sure we that we're all on the same page and that we put ourselves in the best position to be successful."

The Raiders had their best-rushing game of the season against the Packers, totaling nearly 100 yards, with Josh Jacobs having his best fun of the season with 69 yards on 20 carries, averaging 3.5 yards a carry. 

"Offensive linemen, we love running the ball," Van Roten said. "The more success we have, the more you will run it. So, it's been good the last couple of weeks. We keep taking steps in the right direction and getting Josh going.

"We're trying to improve every day and come together as a unit. We want to be able to run the ball effectively and protect the quarterback so we can give our playmakers a chance to make plays."

Last week, the Raiders showed some of the offense's potential when spreading the ball around and having success running the ball. Sunday is a chance for the offensive line to improve even more, as they will face a defense that gives up an average of 108 yards per game.

The Silver and Black will stay home at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to play the New England Patriots on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 4:05 p.m. EDT/1:05 p.m. PDT.

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