



When Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio looked back at the box score from his team's 24-6 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 17, one thing in particular stood out to him: running back Latavius Murray's stat line.

Murray carried the ball just five times for 11 yards in the losing effort.

"We didn't run it enough," Del Rio told reporters on Monday, per Jimmy Durkin of the Bay Area News Group. "Latavius ends up with five carries. How's that happen?"

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Week 17 marked Murray's lightest workload of the season. Coming into this matchup, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound back was averaging 15 carries per game — three times the total he saw on Sunday.

DeAndre Washington, who enjoyed a breakout performance the week before, ended up leading the way for the Raiders on the ground with seven carries for 43 yards against the Broncos. Fellow rookie running back Jalen Richard gained just three yards on as many carries, while wide receiver Johnny Holton attempted one end around that resulted in a fumble.

There are two things that were seriously flawed about this offensive game plan. First of all, it put way too much pressure on quarterbacks Matt McGloin and Connor Cook, who were called upon to fill in for the injured Derek Carr. Secondly, it seemed to defy the fact that Murray racked up a season-high 114 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries in Oakland's dominating win over the Broncos in Week 9.

The pressure will be on Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave to come up with a more balanced game plan for the team's upcoming matchup with the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round of the AFC Playoffs.

Follow Kevin Boilard on Twitter: @247KevinBoilard