Kansas City Chiefs: Getting to know Oakland Raiders before Week 2

How the Raiders Match Up Against the Chiefs

Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs won both of the games against the Oakland Raiders. The first time these teams battled didn’t come until Week 13, two weeks after the Chiefs fell to the Rams 54-51 on Monday Night Football.

But the Chiefs prevailed in a hard-fought game that saw the Raiders get as close as within a field goal with just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. While Kansas City won 40-33, Oakland put up 17 points in the fourth to make it a very interesting game.

The second game between these two in 2018 came in Week 17, and the Chiefs whooped the Raiders 35-3. In that game, Mahomes struck gold with his 50th touchdown pass of the season.

All of that was last year, however. The Raiders looked much more focused and in sync against the Broncos than they did for most of last season. What will be the key, then, for Oakland to stop Kansas City’s offense?

“Wow, when you talk about the Chiefs offense, it is downright scary,” Weiss said. “Patrick Mahomes has come into the NFL and absolutely dominated, and had three more touchdowns in Week 1.

“I think the only way you neutralize the Chiefs offense is to not try and go blow for blow with them. Oakland did a nice job in Week 1 of putting long drives together, and that really kept the defense fresh. If they can sustain drives, and get those short third-down conversions, it will lead to Mahomes spending more time on the sidelines, which is the only way you neutralize him. The Raiders just do not have the talent in the secondary, especially with [No. 27 overall draft pick] Johnathan Abram out, to stop the passing game.”

On offense, not only does Carr have a new weapon in Williams, but he also has a new dual-threat running back in rookie Josh Jacobs, taken with the No. 24 pick in the NFL Draft out of Alabama. In his professional debut, Jacobs ran the ball 23 times for 85 yards and pair of touchdowns while hauling in one pass for 28 yards.

For the Raiders to have a shot at defeating the Chiefs, more of the same needs to occur. They need to “have a nice blend of short, and long passes, and really lean on running back Jacobs,” Weiss said. “Head coach Jon Gruden said that Jacobs could get more than the 24 touches he got in Week 1, so a steady diet of him pounding the ball inside is going to help against a Chiefs defense that was put to the test by [rookie and sixth-round pick] Gardner Minshew and the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. Oakland can score on this defense, the big question is whether or not they can get stops.”