The Oakland Raiders traveled went on the road to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday ready to take control of the AFC West. The team was there, but they never did truly arrive, turning in a forgettable performance with so much on the line.
Oakland Raiders Playoff Hopes Hang by Thread After Big Loss to Kansas City Chiefs
The offense never did get things rolling until the fourth quarter. Even then it is hard to judge a performance when the opposition is leading by such a wide margin. Said head coach Jack Del Rio of the offense not being able to get going in the first half. “That is one we have to take a look at. Bottom line: we did not. The first five drives of the first half were four punts and a pick. That is not the kind of productivity we needed today obviously.”
Derek Carr completed just 58 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions to just one touchdown. Carr was also sacked twice. This could go down as one of Carr’s worst performances of his career, even with losing Amari Cooper to an injury in the second quarter. Derek Carr had this to say about his performance on Sunday. “I am just frustrated with myself. There are going to be plays that you want back, but that is every game. For a whole, I saw the coverage fine. I was going to certain places with the ball that I thought were right and all of those things. At the end of the day, it was not good enough.”
Running back Marshawn Lynch ran the ball seven times for 61 yards, a hefty average of 8.71 yards per carry, including 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Lynch had another long run of 27 yards, which means besides those two runs he had an average of just 2.4 yards per carry (five rushes for 12 yards).
Execution was poor again, with too many dropped passes. This is nowhere near the same team on offense it was a year ago.
The defense was able to keep the team in the game in the first half, when the offense was not able to get things going, holding the Chiefs to field goals instead of touchdowns on three possessions. The defense overall had four sacks and one interception, but also gave up way too many big plays. It’s ssomething that has haunted this team now for some time. The Chiefs running game gouged the defense for a total of 165 yards, two touchdowns, and an average of five yards per carry. Hard to lay too much blame on the defense this game though. The secondary is still a concern, but not having starter David Amerson and losing top pick Gareon Conley has hurt this team.
The best the Raiders can do this year now is finish 9-7. With three tough games ahead playing the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Los Angeles Chargers, even 9-7 could be very hard to accomplish. Making the playoffs seems a long shot at this point.
Most believe it won’t matter anyway. The team simply is not playing good enough football to deserve to make the playoffs this year. Playing for pride and showing great effort will remain a priority, and could go a long way in determining what decisions will need to be made this off-season.
