The Las Vegas Raiders come into this week as massive underdogs. Nobody gives them any sort of a chance against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they’re right to do so. On paper, they stand no chance in this game. Yet the famous phrase “Any Given Sunday, any team can win” certainly applies to this game. Nobody gave the Las Vegas Raiders a chance to win the last time these two teams played, but they did.
Key One: Avoid Dumb Turnovers
The biggest enemy facing the Las Vegas Raiders has been themselves. They’ve beaten themselves in every loss this season, more so than the opponents they’ve played. Quarterback Gardner Minshew is starting only because starter Aidan O’Connell is injured and they signed backup Quarterback Desmond Ridder. Ridder could be pressed into service if Minshew performs the way he has all season long. Avoiding dumb turnovers will be the most important key for the Las Vegas Raiders but also the hardest to achieve.
On the season, Minshew has thrown four touchdowns and HAS eight interceptions. Head Coach Antonio Pierce said Minshew “has to get out of his own head,” which is not exactly a ringing endorsement. Pierce has stressed multiple times that stopping turnovers is the most important thing for them to achieve. Yet here we stand with the Las Vegas Raiders owning the worst turnover differential in the NFL. If they want to stand a chance of beating the undefeated Chiefs, the Raiders can’t turn the ball over. They didn’t the last time the two teams met and they won.
Key Two: Stop Missing Tackles
No team in the league has missed more tackles than the Las Vegas Raiders. They entered last week’s game having missed 69 tackles and went on to miss a season-high nine more in the loss. Jack Jones has particularly been victimized in the missed tackles category and is one of the players that fans have pointed to in regards to making “business decisions.” The missed tackles reveal a lack of discipline and the players not doing their jobs. Instead of hacking away at the football and whiffing, the defenders need to start going for tackles.
It’s a bad tendency for losing teams to try and play hero ball rather than making the right play. It leads to big plays for the opposition and apathy on your sidelines. Last week the Las Vegas Raiders defense played well against an injured Rams team that went on to upset the Vikings on Thursday. The Chiefs are a different animal. Matthew Stafford is still a good quarterback, but Patrick Mahomes is in the “GOAT” conversation. The defense needs to do their jobs like they did last Christmas, otherwise, the Chiefs will feast all game.
Key Three: Stop Going Away From What Works Offensively
One of the biggest issues on offense has been Luke Getsy. The offensive coordinator has had a tumultuous tenure to say the least and “Raider Nation” has been calling for his removal already. Getsy was not good in Chicago as the offensive coordinator and was even beaten badly this season by his former starting Quarterback Justin Fields. One of the problems is that whenever something is working or somebody is doing well, the offense immediately goes away from that for the remainder of the game.
Instead of running away from what’s working, the offense needs to fire on all cylinders in this one. If Alexander Mattison is popping off like he did to open the game against the Steelers, keep getting him the ball instead of subbing him out again. Brock Bowers is the only receiver on the team that’s been doing anything positive and needs to continue being the main focus of the passing attack. Zone runs have shown that they aren’t working while power runs have yielded far more success. Instead of forcing zone runs that aren’t working, run more power runs.
Conclusion
It’s hard to say if any of this will make a difference. Pierce said it best when he said “This is a bad football team.” It sucks to say but the Las Vegas Raiders once again are not good. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t shock the world one more time. The Chiefs are coming into this game looking for revenge. Not just because they lost last time, but because the Las Vegas Raiders disrespected Mahomes in training camp with a Kermit the Frog puppet.
The last time the Las Vegas Raiders chose to disrespect the Chiefs, they stepped on the Chiefs logo in 2021. It immediately led to one of the worst beatdowns that the Raiders have suffered at the hands of their rivals. “Raider Nation” has to be shuttering at the thought of what the undefeated Chiefs might do this Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. Yet at the same time, crazier things have happened in this historic rivalry.
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