After the Oakland Raiders lost 21-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, there were plenty of questions being asked. Kansas City has now won five in a row against Oakland, and people are beginning to wonder if the young Derek Carr can beat the red and gold. Maybe this is the case, but at the end of the day, one thing is true; the Oakland Raiders need to get healthy.
Oakland Raiders Need to Get Healthy
When the game started, the Oakland Raiders were without Karl Joseph, Kelechi Osemele, Darius Latham, Antonio Hamilton, Stacy McGee, and Shilique Calhoun. As devastating as these injuries were, it was the nagging pinky of Derek Carr that devastated the Raiders.
Carr was a strong candidate for MVP heading into the game, but that talk should lose steam after his performance against Kansas City. He completed 17 of 41 passes for only 117 yards without scoring and was a total non-factor. Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree only combined for nine catches and 50 yards against a secondary that has struggled in recent weeks.
The Chiefs only registered one sack against Carr and the Raiders, and yet their passing game was useless. The Raiders did manage to rush for 135 yards, but when you’re down multiple scores and you need to move fast, you have to be able to pass the ball.
Moving Forward
As much as the Raider Nation hates what happened against the Chiefs, time stops for no team. The game is over, and the Silver and Black can’t afford to stumble and fall. The good news is that now the Raiders don’t play again until they travel to play the San Diego Chargers next Sunday.
The Raiders should be able to defeat the Chargers, but it’s very important that the team keeps winning. The Chiefs hold the division lead, but only via tiebreaker. If the Raiders win out and the Chiefs drop a game, Oakland can still win the AFC West. With the Chargers and Denver Broncos on the horizon for both teams, it’s not impossible to think the Chiefs drop a game.
The Raiders need to win out, but they can’t do so while limping like they did against the Chiefs. They’ve got a week and a half to get healthy, and they need to do so to save their season. If they don’t, the Raider revival might get cut short in 2016.
