Despite Injury, Latavius Murray Proving Himself as Raiders’ Most Talented Back

Four carries.

Four carries is all it took for us to realize that Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray is by far the most talented back on the entire Silver and Black roster.

It was a rainy, muddy, sloppy night of football filled with illicit passes, strong stretches of defense and gut-wrenching drives. The Raiders' 24-20 victory over the now 7-4 Kansas City Chiefs wasn't pretty, but without the four touches Murray received, it would never have happened.

The first two scores of the game were all because of Murray. Starting at 6:33 in the first quarter, he found his way into the end zone after exploding around the edge from 11 yards out.



Even though it wasn't a run you'll remember in the coming weeks, the Raiders haven't had a back who's been able to plant his feet and kick the football outside in what feels like a decade.

On the other hand, Murray's second touchdown run already has become the defining highlight of his young career.

After being handed the ball by his quarterback, Derek Carr, Murray found a cutback lane and burst through the second level of the Chiefs defense.

With just one defender to beat, he turned on the jets and carried the rock 90 yards in the pouring rain for not only the longest touchdown of the Raiders' season, but as the team's official Twitter feed broadcast out to the world, it was also "the longest offensive play" by any team in 2014:



The beauty of that run was how simple it was. This wasn't a fancy play call dialed up by offensive coordinator Greg Olson. As Bleacher Report's Matt Bowen tweeted, this was nothing more than a simple counterplay:



Murray's two touchdown runs gave this fanbase and coaching staff a renewed sense of hope, even after they suffered 10 consecutive losses to open up the season.

On his fourth carry, all of those jars of sunshine and hope hit a snag.
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders