It’s Raider week and it’s a revenge game for the Kansas City Chiefs. The meeting between these two teams earlier in the season was one of the more maddening losses for the Chiefs. Due to multiple penalties, the Raiders had three to four different chances inside the five yard to score. Also, last week was another tight game, and unfortunately the game resulted in another Chiefs loss at the Jets. With the loss, the Chiefs head into this crucial AFC West rivalry game. Here are keys to look for that could lead to a Chiefs victory to end their four game losing streak.
Limit Big Runs From Marshawn Lynch
It appears Derek Carr returned to his unbelievable ways but lately running back Marshawn Lynch seems like the catalyst for the Raiders offense. Lynch’s production picked up an occasionally struggling Raiders offense. The Chiefs defense is still not consistently stopping the run. As a result, they stack the box , like the Cowboys game.. That helped at times, but just like Lynch, bigger running backs seem to give the Chiefs fits. Reggie Ragland continues to make plays week after week. Plus, the defensive line inched closer to more tackles for loss. The battle of the trenches and the Chiefs front will be a major part to keeping the Chiefs in this game.
Pressure Derek Carr
Carr succeeds more when he gets the ball out of his hands quickly. When Carr feels pressure, he will throw off his back foot, leading to some interceptions. The speed of Carr helps him get out of sacks, but by no means can he elude defenders like Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson. Kansas City’s defense only tallied twenty-one sacks on the season, tied for the third lowest total in all of the NFL. Of those twenty-one sacks, the Chiefs only have gotten three sacks in the three games since the bye week occurred. The need for defensive improvements seems overstated by now, but Carr has been worse in pressured games.
Create Plays On the Edges
Other than Khalil Mack, the Raiders defense is something that failed this team in last couple of seasons. The talent seems to be there, but the inability to force turnovers and continue to make stops plagues them. In fact, the Raiders defense got their first interception just two weeks ago in a win over the Broncos. Fans get tired of the screen passes, but those plays will help the Chiefs on Sunday. Other play calls like run sweeps for Kareem Hunt or handoffs to Tyreek Hill could really flourish for the Kansas City. The Raiders secondary improved, but the speed of the receivers and TravisKelce warrants the ability to beat them on either deep routes or crossers.
