The Kansas City Chiefs have recaptured the top of the AFC West with a 41:14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. While the home side seemed haphazard and made a lot of mistakes, Patrick Mahomes in particular was in very good shape again after weaker performances.
After a few tough games in the past few weeks, the Chiefs got off to a good start after a boring first series. On the second drive, they crossed 89 yards with numerous short passes and took the lead with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes on Tyreek Hill.
The Chiefs then forced the Raiders to do another punt. On the return, however, Punter AJ Cole of all people forced a fumble against returner Mike Hughes and the home side captured the ball near the center line. A little later, Derek Carr found Hunter Renfrow to equalize for a 6-yard touchdown.
Until the break, however, the chiefs restored the lead. First kicker Harrison Butker hit from 40 yards, then Mahomes threw his second TD pass to Hill. There were no more points until the break, because Butker missed another field goal attempt from 46 yards. The break was 17: 7 Chiefs.
The Raiders then came out of the break with force and found the end zone with two big plays – first Carr found wide receiver Zay Jones for 22 yards, then Bryan Edwards for a 37-yard touchdown.
Chiefs can no longer be held in the second half
The Chiefs, however, followed up with a 13-play drive that restored the old distance. In the end, it was the team’s third tight end, rookie Noah Gray, who scored a 1-yard touchdown.
Las Vegas then tried again with a deep shot – Carr to newcomer DeSean Jackson for 40 yards – but this Rashad Fenton hit the ball out of his hands and tyrant Mathieu captured the fumble. This resulted in a field goal from Butker from 35 yards. A little later, Carr made an interception at the end of the third quarter for the preliminary decision.
The Chiefs then finally put the lid on in the following series of attacks. Punter Tommy Townsend extended the drive with a fake punt pass and ultimately Mahomes fired a 38-yard touchdown pass to running back Darrel Williams, who had snuck away on a wheel route. 34:14 Chiefs with 13 minutes on the clock.
A punt later, the Chiefs followed up and Mahomes threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Byron Pringle.
Due to this success, the Chiefs also take the lead in the AFC West due to the defeat of the Chargers earlier in the day against the Vikings.
Las Vegas Raiders (5-4) – Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
Result: 14:41 (0: 7, 7:10, 7:10, 0:14) BOXSCORE
Raiders vs. Chiefs – the most important statistics
- Mahomes finished the first half with 198 passing yards. That was 32 yards more than Mahomes had managed against the Packers the previous week.
- Tyreek Hill now has 55 receiving touchdowns. These are the third most in franchise history of the Chiefs. He caught up with Chris Buford and only has Otis Taylor (57) and Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (76) in front of him.
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Darrel Williams’ 38-yard touchdown catch had a completion probability of 25.8 percent and a target separation of only 0.3 yards Next Gen Stats. That was the slightest separation at a completion in Mahomes’ NFL career.
The star of the game: Patrick Mahomes (Quarterback, Chiefs)
No, Mahomes (35/50, 406 YDS, 5 TD) is still not quite the same as before – he was lucky that at least two bad passes were not intercepted again and instead were dropped – but he played his best game in this season. He was more patient than last in the pocket, was less jittery and threw accordingly mostly much more precisely than in the last few weeks. Towards the end of the game he tried deep shots again, which he missed for a long time.
The flop of the game: The Raiders’ secondary
Mahomes didn’t take a sack, but that’s not an indicator of a weak front – the Raiders took 11 pressures against Mahomes. Rather, the front was abandoned by the Raiders’ secondary. It didn’t fit very well in coverage, the assignment was strange – even in the Red Zone no linebacker should play against Hill in the slot. In addition, it is incomprehensible why the Raiders tried so often man coverage against Hill and Kelce. This usually goes wrong, as in this game. Of particular note, however, is cornerback Brandon Facyson, who was the next defender on three of Mahomes’ five TD passes.
Analysis: Raiders vs. Chiefs – the tactics board
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Somewhat surprisingly, in contrast to numerous previous opponents of the Chiefs, the Raiders did not consistently rely on 2-high looks and zone coverage. Instead, there was a lot of bet on man coverage, which led to bigger problems.
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Guarding Tyreek Hill was particularly difficult for the raiders. They started Man Coverage against him with cornerback Brandon Facyson. After his interim injury break, Desmond took over Trufant, who could not keep up. With his second touchdown, Hill started in the slot and had linebacker Denzel Perryman as a direct opponent – but deep in the red zone, so this matchup was more of a special nature. Facyson was allowed to play again later, but didn’t make it much better either. Facyson and Trufant were specifically searched for by Mahomes and ultimately surrendered four of the five TD passports.
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The Chiefs, in turn, played man coverage throughout and mostly only with single high looks in order to have an extra defender in the box. In addition, they showed more flash, but ultimately did not flash Carr before the break. The heavy boxes, on the other hand, paid off against the run, which barely came into play at the start with the home side.
- In the second half we saw more 2 high looks from the Chiefs, a result of the score. The Raiders were clearly behind and had to bet more on the pass. The chiefs also sent one or the other speed camera, which for example led to Carr’s interception at the end of the third quarter.
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