Reasons Why The Raiders Lost To The Chiefs
December 9, 2016 in Sports News
This time it happened on the road and in a different way, but once again the Oakland Raiders were convincingly defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs, who this time displayed a side not many knew they had as they won 21-13, are now in first place tied with the Raiders and own the tiebreak thanks to their sweep of the Raiders this season.
If you’re wondering what went wrong this time here are a few reasons that explain the latest defeat:
–Oakland’s wide receivers dropped too many passes and failed to separate from their defenders. They just failed to match the intensity of the Chiefs secondary. As an example, Cooper was targeted 10 times but ended the game with just five catches for 29 yards.
–Tyreek Hill spectacular performance: the speedy rookie had another outstanding game for the Chiefs as he had two touchdowns against the Raiders, one on a 36-yard catch and the other on a 78-yard punt return. Hill has now scored on a kick return for the second time in three games and leads the Chiefs with nine total touchdowns. With Hill spearheading the special teams unit, the Chiefs’ scoring opportunities increase exponentially. The unit now gives the Chiefs’ attack a new dimension that teams will have to watch for when facing them.
–David Carr was not as accurate as usual: it’s true that the Chiefs secondary had a great game and his receivers dropped many passes, but Carr was not on target for a great portion of the game. Carr not only threw several times into double coverage or tight spots, limiting the chance of his already drop-happy receivers of catching the football; but he also failed to notice the location of the first down marker. As a result, Carr passed for just 117 yards, completing just 17 of 41 pass attempts.
-Travis Kelce had another game with more than 100 receiving yards. The Chiefs TE is one of the main weapons in the Chiefs passing game right now. Yes, it’s true he only has three scores this season, but this was his fourth straight game with more than 100 receiving yards, a mark he has surpassed five times this year. Kelce is performing at a high level in the final stretch of the regular season and has become Alex Smith’s go-to-guy in tight plays where he needs someone to bail him out and avoid sacks.
Note: In the first game in Oakland, the Raiders lost the game 26-10 thanks in large part to their inability to stop the Chiefs efficient rushing attack. That night the Raiders surrendered 131 rushing yards to running back Spencer Ware and allowed the Chiefs running backs to score three times.