Rodney Hudson opened an interior crease for Latavius Murray and the Raiders running back slashed through it. He found some open space, just three yards from paydirt against the New Orleans Saints.
Two linebackers stood between him and the end zone. He could've tried to find an safer angle to the goal line, but Murray didn't want to run around.
He chose to run through.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound rusher lowered his pads and became a bowling ball. The pins had no shot. Murray ran two men over and across the goal line for a touchdown.
"That was angry ‘Tay.' I love that," quarterback Derek Carr said. "That's the ‘Tay Train,' man. When he puts those pads down, how fast he is, how explosive, how strong, how big, there are not a lot of people that are going to push him backwards. To see him put his pads down and do that, it got everyone fired up."
Violence has never been a signature part of Murray's game. He's known as a slasher with breakaway speed, someone who runs high and fluid. This season, Murray wants to administer most punishment than he takes.
Raiders
Murray is even-tempered, a genuinely nice guy. He wants to run mean in 2016.
"This year I'm making sure I use my size to my advantage," Murray said. "I'm breaking tackles, trying to run through guys. When that ball's in my hand, whoever's on the other side becomes the victim of ‘Angry Tay.'"
Couldn't keep a straight face using Carr's nickname, but it represents a paradigm shift for a 26-year old still evolving as a runner. He had a huge sample size to learn from last season, when he had 306 touches.
He nitpicked each one to identify how he could've gotten more. That's especially true of the carries that went nowhere.
"I watched all my runs with no gain or negative production," Murray said. "I find areas where I could've been better. I watched other guys around the league and compared what I did to what they did to turn their runs into explosive gains."
At times, it's about making smarter decisions. At others, it's about switching from prey to predator.
That's switch is evident in early runs, especially in a Week 2 loss to Atlanta. According to analytics site Pro Football Focus, he averaged 6.6 yards after contact per rushing attempt against the Falcons. He had 14 total touches for 101 yards from scrimmage, and forced six missed tackles in the process.
Those numbers represent significant improvement over last year, when he was knocked for absorbing too many hits and being an unreliable receiver. It's clear Murray has shored up some weaknesses.
The O-line has opened holes and him being physical with his running," head coach Jack Del Rio said. "Yeah, I think it's a really good start. The first couple weeks, I think the way he's run the ball in there with authority has been a good thing for us."
Murray hasn't run nearly as much. He accounted for 79 percent of Raiders rushes last year. Carries have been split between him and rookies Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington. Against Atlanta, it's a near-even split.
The Raiders would like to keep him fresh as games and weeks wear on, a luxury they couldn't afford last year. Murray certainly wants more than the eight carries he had against Atlanta, but might appreciate a lighter workload down the road.
"He's our guy, he's our Pro Bowl running back that we're going to give the ball to when we need it," Carr said. "To see the way that he's run, he's running so physical and putting his pads down and hitting people, it's fun. … I told him when we had all of these running backs start to play well in training camp we'd sit back there and watch and I said, ‘Man, that's the best thing that ever happened for you.' And he would just laugh because as a competitor he wants every rep. But I said, ‘Man, just remember that's the best thing that happened to you.' Because every ball he gets he's going to be 100% fresh."
It's hard to argue with the Raiders rushing philosophy right now. After two weeks, they have the NFL's second best ground game and the top total offense. The carry split has always been expected to slant towards Murray and certainly will if he continues to perform like this.
"we have a good group and we're playing them all," Del Rio said. "I think certainly, if you're not getting it 30 or 40 times, you better make those 15 or so carries you get, make them work. I think there's maybe a little heightened urgency there. Also, you have to feed the hot hand, so if (Murray) gets going and he's the hot hand, we'll feed him more."
