Kansas City Chiefs: Four players to watch vs Raiders in Week 11

Alex Okafor

The Chiefs have been banged up all season long, but fortunately, Alex Okafor is on his way back for this weekend’s game against the Raiders. Okafor hasn’t played since Week 6 in Buffalo and according to Craig Stout of Arrowhead Pride, he’s third on the defense in pressure rate, so the Chiefs will obviously be thrilled to have him back in the fold.

As I mentioned in Clark’s section, getting pressure on Carr is key in this game. Without pressure, Carr is going to step into those long throws with ease and the more he’s able to do it, the tougher it’s going to be to slow down the Raiders’ offense.

Okafor has struggled to stay healthy since he joined the Chiefs last year, but he can make a real impact in this match-up. Hopefully, his impact is felt and the Chiefs defense can prevent the Raiders from having a big day offensively.

L’Jarius Sneed

Assuming he plays, L’Jarius Sneed has the potential to make a huge difference on Sunday night. Sneed was injured in Week 3 with a broken collarbone, but he’s trending toward playing this week, which will greatly help the Chiefs’ offense.

Sneed was playing at a high-level to start his rookie season and losing him to the injured reserve was a brutal blow. The Chiefs’ secondary has still played well with Sneed out, but Charvarius Ward greatly struggled against the Raiders in Week 5, so having Sneed back should help in that department, as the Raiders won’t be able to pick on Ward as much. Plus, Ward has played better since that game.

Hopefully, Sneed can indeed return and make the Chiefs passing defense that much better. Carr torched them in Week 5, but that shouldn’t be the case this time around.