Raiders Run Defense Will Be Stiff Test for Green Bay Packers' Eddie Lacy

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy is on a mission. 

After struggling early in the year with ankle and groin injuries and then briefly losing his starting job after missing curfew in the week before the Week 13 matchup with the Detroit Lions—all of which led to a dip in his production this year—the halfback is determined to finish out the year strong. 

He delivered in Week 14 with head coach Mike McCarthy back at the helm calling plays; Lacy carried the rock 24 times against the Dallas Cowboys, totaling 124 yards—a season-high—and a touchdown. 

However, the Week 15 matchup against the Oakland Raiders and their stout run defense threatens to halt Lacy's redemption and challenge McCarthy's game plan. 

Yards Allowed	NFL Rank	Yards Allowed/Game	NFL Rank
Season
Yards Allowed	NFL Rank	Yards Allowed/Game	NFL Rank
Last Three Games
1,314	12th	101.1	12th
167	5th	55.7	5th

On the season, the Raiders are 12th in the league in both total rushing yards allowed and average rushing yards per game allowed. While that's more than respectable, it's not shutdown territory.

However, over their last three matchups against the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans, the Raiders have allowed 34, 89 and 44 rushing yards, respectively. They also allowed no rushing touchdowns to both the Broncos and the Titans.

The Raiders have held opponents to under 100 rushing yards in eight of their last 11 games.

OK, you say, but none of Denver, Kansas City and Tennessee have a back of Lacy's caliber.

That's fair enough. However, it's worth pointing out that Denver's Ronnie Hillman has 663 yards on the season, more than Lacy's 641, and Oakland held him to 21 yards on seven carries—and this after racking up 103 yards on Minnesota the previous week. 

All this is to say that the Packers haven't faced a front seven as strong as Oakland's in quite some time; the only tougher run defense they've faced, arguably, has been Denver's, and Lacy managed just 38 yards against that defense. 

But McCarthy once again holds the reins, and as he proved in Week 14, he's better about going to the run early and often than was his associate, Tom Clements. 

Still, given that so much of Lacy's game appears to be mental, what would a shutdown by the Raiders do to his motivation as the Packers enter a crucial three-game stretch heading into the playoffs?

Lacy spoke to the media about his focus heading into this matchup, per Packers.com. 

"We know it's not going to be an easy game and that they're going to come out ready to play," Lacy said. "We just have to stick to what we know."

What the Packers seem to know heading into Week 15 is that the more touches Lacy gets, the better chance the offense has of getting into a rhythm and moving down the field. 

As for the issues he had earlier in the season, both sides seem to understand that things will be different for Lacy moving forward.

"I think sometimes when things come easy to you, you kind of ease off a little bit and you get lax," Lacy said Thursday when asked about his slow start to the season and recent turnaround, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky.

"And things need to happen in order to wake you up and show you that it can be taken away, it can get difficult, but that’s how I would say it."

As the Packers and Lacy now turn their focus to what they need to do specifically to beat the Raiders, Lacy has some ideas. 

Lacy's 3.2 yards after contact per attempt over the last three games, per Pro Football Focus, should help him navigate the Raiders' stout front. 

He also explained in his media session Thursday that while he knew there were run packages put in for him in the Week 14 game plan against the Cowboys, he never expected to get the workload he did. 

"The fact that we were able to take those plays and make them work in that fashion, I think is something that in the future we can look forward to seeing again," Lacy said. 

That will likely mean a generous dosage of James Starks both against Oakland and through the rest of the season, in order to keep Lacy fresh. But it's clear that McCarthy is ready to lean on his halfback to help carry the team through the rest of the regular season, and that begins at Oakland.