Special Preview- Week 14
Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
Raiders: It definitely hasn’t been the year we were expecting from them in 2017 after what we saw them do in 2016 and some people went as far as to consider them to be a Super Bowl contender and to be a team that could challenge both the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots in the AFC, not so fast! They still have a lot of work to do before being mentioned in the same conversation as those two powerhouses. Just a few weeks ago, many people threw the towel in on the Raiders and rightfully so because they’ve been so inconsistent and we saw them lose to those same Patriots pretty badly the week before Thanksgiving. They’ve won their last two games and they are back in the hunt right now for one of the two Wild Card spots and they could still win the division. They’ve fixed a few things as a team. First, Derek Carr is playing better and he isn’t forcing the football into tight spaces because when he has, it’s seemed to always result in a turnover, the offensive line is playing better up front, the defense is getting off the field on third down a little bit more and the most important thing is Marshawn Lynch is starting to look more comfortable within this offensive system and yesterday against the New York Giants, he ran for 117 yards, his first 100-yard rushing game in a Raiders uniform. He usually gets it going around this time of the year and when you build your offense around him, good things happen. It’s now time for maybe their most important game of the year. Arrowhead and the Kansas City Chiefs who are in a must-win situation right now.
Chiefs– Yesterday on Twitter, I tweeted this: “The 2017 Kansas City Chiefs=The 2003 Minnesota Vikings”. The similarities between the two teams are so obvious. Both teams got off to very strong starts and both found themselves struggling after those quick beginnings. After the Chiefs started 5-0, they have now lost six of their last seven games and now sit at 6-6 in the AFC West, but they are still in first place. I watched a good portion of their game against the Jets on Sunday and they got back to the football that had them winning games early on. Instead of playing that conservative football, Alex Smith got back to taking shots down the field and the Chiefs offense was aggressive. Travis Kelce was getting his looks of course and they were able to get Tyreek Hill the football as well and he had a monster game. The offense finally got the ball rolling and that was a big improvement compared to what we’ve seen the last four games or so. Their lingering issue has been their defense and now, they really miss the presence of Eric Berry. He’s a leader and that’s what the Chiefs don’t have right now is leadership because if they did, Marcus Peters wouldn’t have thrown the referee’s flag into the stands after disagreeing with a call that was made and the Chiefs went on to lose the game. Andy Reid is losing this locker room and that’s where the foundation of what you put on the football field starts is with the coach and he needs to have a grasp and control. Will the struggles stop on Sunday?
Raiders Player To Watch: NaVorro Bowman– He’s played in big games before and he’s been on teams that have won their division. The Raiders got him to be that veteran presence on the defense and they needed it especially after Charles Woodson retired. This is a crucial stretch of the season for the Raiders and having guys with experience can really make all the difference.
Chiefs Player To Watch: Tyreek Hill– When Kelce is locked up, he’s Alex Smith’s other weapon to get the football too. He had a huge game yesterday and he can run circles around this Raiders secondary that struggles to cover receivers. I’d try to keep them guessing and mix up the offensive gameplan. Don’t continue to force it to Kelce always.
Final Analysis: What a change in the standings. After week five of the season, the Chiefs were 5-0, the Broncos were 3-2, the Raiders were in third place with a 2-3 record and the Chargers were in the basement of the division. Now, it’s a three-way tie atop the division between the Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers. This is a huge game and this rivalry has really ignited itself over the last year or so. The Chiefs have to get a pass rush on Derek Carr and they need to do it early and often because they got no type of pressure on Josh McCown in the Jets game. The Raiders need to continue to feed Lynch the football and attack the Chiefs secondary.
Prediction: Raiders 31 Chiefs 28
