Travis Turns It On As Chiefs Survive Raiders Scare
By Rob Ward
We were promised a dream of a jacked-up AFC West in 2022, a free-flowing feast of offense with three future Hall of Fame quarterbacks (and Derek Carr) hurling thunder and wowing crowds for miles around.
Heading into MNF, where did we stand?
The Broncos face an existential crisis about the future of their franchise and the potential humiliation of one of the greatest trade busts of all time. The Chargers have improved from an auspicious 1-2 start, but with Brandon Staley – the wildest hand in the West – at the wheel, an unthinkable defeat never seems too far away. Sunday was so nearly the latest instalment in this saga. The Raiders traded for the best receiver in football but have once again come up short in other areas, after years of drafting Alex Leatherwoods and Clelin Ferrells in the first.
Then there are the Chiefs. They traded away the most explosive receiver in football (it appears I’m dishing out receiver honours this week), and the assumption from angry American sports ‘experts’ shouting at each other on television was that they would come back to the pack a bit more. They couldn’t get much further away from it. In the last seven seasons, Kansas City has only dropped six matches in the division. Since Andy Reid became head coach, the Raiders have only won once at Fortress Arrowhead.
I like to think of the Chiefs and Raiders as the Hatfields and McCoys of the Old West, and the two historic franchises met once again Monday night at the NFL’s noisiest venue. Ultimately, the result didn’t buck the trend of Chiefs’ superiority, but the Raiders won’t get many better chances to improve their record than the 17-0 lead they squandered on an entertaining night in West Missouri.
It started so well for Josh McDaniels’ team. The much-maligned other Josh – Jacobs – proved that his outstanding showing against the Broncos in Week 4 (28 for 144 with 2 TDs at an average of 5.1 YPC) was no anomaly. He dominated on the ground once again, finishing with an even more impressive 154 yards off 21 carries, with 1 TD at 7.3 YPC.
Chandler Jones entered the game without a sack in four straight games for the first time in his career and, whilst he didn’t notch his first of the year, he and the excellent Maxx Crosby were a constant menace to Patrick Mahomes all through the first half.
The Silver and Black gave up a lot to tempt Adams away from Aaron Rodgers and the value of having him on the team was clear for all to see. After Brandon Bolden did extremely well on a 3rd & 13 to get the Raiders to 4th & 1 near halfway, McDaniels played aggressive. Adams got free downfield for a 58 yard score. On their second scoring drive he drew two pass interference calls that left the Raiders at 1st & Goal on the 1 yard line. Jacobs obliged to put them 14-0 up.
The Chiefs needed a spark and it came in the form of Jerrick McKinnon (obviously) who fought hard to make two first downs that kept a Chiefs drive alive midway through the 2nd quarter. Travis Kelce got the first of his 4 TDs. He added his second and third in quick succession after the break. A few years ago, we were all content with the assessment that Rob Gronkowski was the greatest tight end of all time. How much more does Kelce have to do to make us reassess?
The Raiders ill-discipline killed them in this one. Las Vegas was the second most penalised team in 2021 and they are sixth biggest flag shaggers so far this year. They saw 11 yellow projectiles for a loss of 99 yards. At the end of the first half the Chiefs got the ball back with 17 seconds to go. Raiders safety Roderic Teamer didn’t live up to his surname, as a careless horse collar tackle tagged 15 yards onto a McKinnon catch and run to give Matthew Wright (the Chiefs backup kicker not the intolerable talk show host) a shot at a 59 yarder. He duly obliged. The crowd got loud. It felt like an omen.
Cut to midway through the fourth quarter and just as Matthew showed he may not have the Wright Stuff after all (missing a 37-yard FG), there goes a holding call on defensive end Malcolm Koonce. The Chiefs get a fresh set of downs. Moments later, Kelce got his fourth score of the night.
WHAT. A. GAME.
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 11, 2022
A beauty from Derek Carr to Davante Adams 🔥
(via @nfl) pic.twitter.com/OuzG61QAFR
Just when all hope looked lost, Adams stepped up yet again. The former Packers man broke free of the corner and safety as Carr delivered a perfect 48 yard bomb right into the bread basket. The Raiders could have tied it at 30-30 with a PAT. They instead opted to go for 2 with 4 minutes remaining. McDaniels called a rather bland run play that was stuffed short of the line.
It was a strange decision and a curious play call. In these circumstances – primetime, high pressure, must win – coaches can get overly aggressive. The Raiders did indeed get the stop on the Chiefs next drive before going 4 and out themselves to end the game, so you could argue it nearly paid off. But surely it would have been better to get the ball back with safety of a tie assured rather than needing to advance to save themselves?
A frustrating defeat for the Raiders, but between the pass rush and the running game, there are positives to take from this Monday night loss. Though at 1-4 in a competitive AFC, it becomes harder to see this ending up as anything but another lost season in Vegas.
The Chiefs are just doing it differently this time out. They’re using everyone. From CEH, McKinnon and Pacheco in the backfield, to JuJu, MVS and Hardman at receiver via the dominant Kelce at tight end. The trend across the league this year is defenses dropping safeties to prevent the big play. Consider how toothless the Bengals have looked on offense thus far. In Chiefs Kingdom, however, it appears that Big Red is ahead of the curve once again.
Fantasy Fallout
CEH has left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth after being over drafted in the first round two years ago, but we must separate ourselves from that emotional tug. To be fair to the third-year man out of LSU, this was his first poor game of the year and we are now going into Week 6. He only managed 12 total touches in this one, though 12 touches on the Chiefs offense can be better than 20 touches on most other offenses. The Chiefs won’t be 17-0 down often this season, which may have had a factor in the reduced workload, so I’m happy to keep him as a low end RB2, high end FLEX option.
Don’t ask questions, just play Josh Jacobs as an RB2. The knock on him for years was that he didn’t catch enough passes; he had five alone last night. Until the hot hand cools, keep riding.
Darren Waller left the game injured, leaving the number of startable tight ends currently at about two and a half.
Hunter Renfrow had a nice end to last season that may have won some of you – and by that, I mean me – fantasy leagues, but he’s a non-factor right now bar the occasional ‘Third Down and Renfrow’ 4-yard catch.
You can’t play any Chiefs pass catching options not named Kelce. Somewhere, Andy Reid is smiling over a cheeseburger.
ROB WARD
NFL/Fantasy Football Enthusiast
ROB IS A LOVER OF ALL THINGS 49ERS AND HOST OF THE COLLAPSING POCKET PODCAST IN WHICH HE, SIMON CARROLL AND SAM AKROYD BUTT-FUMBLE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE WORLD OF THE NFL. AWAY FROM SPORT, ROB IS A PROFESSIONAL WRITER AND PERFORMER. HIT HIM UP ON TWITTER @ROBWARDRW!