Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Week 14 road matchup vs. the Kansas City Chiefs where 1st place in the AFC West was on the line, but the Raiders didn't show up for three quarters as they fell to the Chiefs 15-26.
Such an epic fail of epic proportions. But I've seen worse as a Raider fan throughout the losing seasons. This was a game the Raiders had to have not only to be on top of the AFC West, but to keep their playoff hopes alive. And they wet the bed big time today. The first possession of the game set the tone with an incomplete pass to Coop, a run to Lynch for a minimal gain, and a sack on Carr to force a quick 3 and out against a Chiefs defense that's missing some key players. The Chiefs offense under Alex Smith was anemic through the past 6 losses, but they clicked against the Raiders' weak secondary. The Raiders offense finally woke up in the 4th quarter to make the final stretch of the game entertaining after three quarters of mundane football. But 26 down with 7 minutes to go in the 4th, especially when those scores were because of the defense being on the field for too long is a tall task to come back from.
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Slash Bros. Bruce Irvin with two sacks. Khalil Mack with one sack. Irvin looked like he had a third sack this game, but the stats sheet say NaVorro Bowman had that sack. I saw that play again where they had pressure on Smith and it looked like Bowman had the sack rather than Irvin. But aside from that, the Slash Bros came to play today as I said countless times in the comments sections. They were doing their jobs generating outside and inside pressure on Smith.
Jared Cook, 5 receptions, 75 yards, 1 TD. It took all three quarters for the offense to finally go to Jared. Why? When the receivers were not connecting with Derek Carr, it's obvious they have to go to the Tight End who can catch! Why wait to find Cook when the game was pretty much out of reach?
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Entire offense. Like I keep saying, it took three quarters for the offense to finally show up. From Todd Downing's playcalling, to Derek Carr being off target with the receivers, to the receivers dropping balls, the offense was stagnant until the fourth quarter. Shorthanded Chiefs defense and the offense was nearly shut out. So many predictable screens that even a pop warner defense can see through the play. They keep running the ball in singleback formation, which is why Lynch got stuffed early on and why Washington got stuffed when he was giving Lynch a break. Why not run more I Formations when running the ball? It's always gotta be in Singleback formation whenever they call run. That's what's frustrating. Derek Carr was off target. I'm starting to be convinced that it was way too preemptive to give him that extension when he was just coming off a major injury. Receivers dropping balls, looks like the Raiders need to hire new receiver coaches in addition to giving Downing the boot for a proven OC. This offense has been frustrating to watch all season long. They are too talented to be held down like this.
Secondary. No surprises here that there's still problem in the secondary. The Chiefs exposed that big time throwing the ball to Tyreek Hill and Hill just carved up Carrie and McDonald all game long.
Marquette King. This was not good game punting-wise for Marquette King. A 40.9 average on 7 punts is not good. Most of his punts today didn't reach past Kansas City territory, which is why the Chiefs had good field position in some of their drives today. I'd say he only had one good punt today when he punt the ball out of bounds inside the 20 to prevent Tyreek Hill from fielding a decent return. One deep punt went for a touchback and the rest gave Kansas City good field position to start.
MVP
Had to give it to one of the Slash Bros. But, Bruce deserves this one considering he's been playing better since Pagano took over. One of the few players who came to play today in this critical division battle.
Conclusion
While the Raiders are not mathematically eliminated, this loss pretty much shuts up any hope of running the table any further. This whole season has been one big disappointment. The most overhyped season after an overachieving 12-4 season playing against sub .500 teams. This was the season where the Raiders needed to prove that last season was no fluke. And with the lackluster season, they're proving that last year was a fluke. Today summed it up. Critical matchup of their lives against a reeling Chiefs team and the Raiders looked more like the team who just lost six straight games rather than the Chiefs. Not much to say. With playoff hopes fading, the Raiders just need to salvage what they can heading into next season. And definitely, expect drastic changes to follow after this debacle of a season. Raiders play the Cowboys next week on Sunday Night. That matchup was supposed be the preview of the Super Bowl, but it's looking more like both teams are playing for pride with their playoff hopes on life support. I'll see you guys next week for that game.
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