Mathematically, the Oakland Raiders have not been eliminated from playoff contention, but in reality, their hopes of a postseason run went down the toilt when they were blown out by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. It was an ugly game that looks closer than it was thanks to two garbage time touchdowns. That’s the big picture, let’s take a closer look at what happened with some quick thoughts and impressions from the loss.
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From the very start, Kansas City looked like a team who wanted to win at all costs while Oakland looked like a team who wasn’t really sure if they wanted to be playing football on Sunday.
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Oakland’s first drive was a preview of things to come for the offense, a three and out that lacked any creativity and basically just handed the ball back to the Chiefs immediately.
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It was all down hill from there as Oakland either punted or turned the ball over on every drive of the first half while the Chiefs scored on each of their first half drives.
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The defense had its moments, once again showing that John Pagano knows how to create pressure. The Raiders had four sacks on the day which was something we wouldn’t have dreamed of under Ken Norton. Jr.
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Speaking of those sacks, Bruce Irvin accounted for two of those sacks while also accumulating two tackles for a loss and two quarterback hits. Irvin has been a completely different player under Pagano and his play should make the Raiders seriously consider bringing him back.
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Another defender who has thrived under Pagano is Denico Autry, who didn’t have any sacks but did have two pass deflections at the line of scrimmage and whose pressure was felt by Alex Smith and the Chiefs all game long.
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And yes, Khalil Mack also had another solid performance with a sack and a quarterback hit himself.
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But while the defensive line had a solid day, the secondary continued to show how little talent they have, offering open receiver after open receiver to Alex Smith.
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Karl Joseph in particular had a very poor day as Travis Kelce was far too difficult for the undersized safety to cover.
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On offense, the only positive was Marshawn Lynch, who ran the ball seven times for 61 yards. And right there you can tell there was an issue with the play calling. Lynch had success early and yet the Raiders went away from him, despite that success. Only seven touches for Lynch is borderline criminal, especially when he had a 27 yard run in the second Oakland possession.
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Meanwhile, Derek Carr threw the ball 41 times en route to what was probably his worst performance as a professional. Carr was off all day long, making bad decisions and throwing with little to no accuracy.
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But it was a group effort as always. The Raiders started the game off with a handful of painful drops, as has been their M.O. all season long.
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The offensive line also struggled, frequently allowing Chiefs defenders into the backfield on both running and passing plays.
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With the exception of Lynch, the losing effort on offense was a group one, led by the poor play calling of Todd Downing. In fact, it really looked like the Raiders would be shut out until the Chiefs defense allowed a couple of late game touchdowns.
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