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Raiders Mailbag: What needs to be seen from Raiders to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs?

Nov 11, 2021 at 01:15 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Steve Meister said:

"Got to have a running game that way Waller will be open. Keep Mahomes on the bench."

In last season's win over the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders won the time of possession battle by nearly 11 minutes.

The Raiders will need to emphasize controlling the tempo of the game to pull out another victory Sunday. Patrick Mahomes is talented enough to where if he stays on the field long enough, he'll find ways to make plays. The team's defense will have to make sure that Mahomes has the ball in his hands as little as possible, to give an opportunity to Carr and the offense to make plays down the stretch.

One of the best ways to control the tempo of the game is with the running game. The Silver and Black's run has improved the past three games with Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake becoming a formidable backfield tandem. The two have averaged nearly 100 rushing yards a game over the past three games – not to mention what Jalen Richard brings to the run attack as well. Getting the run game going will also help attempt to forge a balanced offense throughout the game, opening up the field for Darren Waller.

So I have to agree with Steve on this one. Run the ball and keep Mahomes off the field.

Ian Ramirez said:

"Finish drives. When you get to the red zone – score touchdowns, not field goals."

Points are hard to come by in the NFL, so you have to get them any way you can. However, the difference between a field goal and a touchdown can sometimes win or lose games.

This was the case in the loss to the New York Giants last Sunday. The Raiders outgained the Giants by more than 150 total yards, but only scored a touchdown on one of six trips to the red zone. This was not just a problem that occurred in New Jersey, it's something they've struggled with this season. The Raiders have scored a touchdown 53.1 percent of the times they've reached the red zone, which ranks 27th in the NFL. The struggle is something that hasn't gone unnoticed by Derek Carr and the Raiders coaching staff.

"I took what coaches told me and that's what we worked on today in our individual drills and things like that," Carr said Wednesday. "Just some reminders of some things and you have to believe when you work on those things you get better at them. Hopefully we corrected it in individual and in the team periods and hopefully we can get better at punching it in the end zone. It's not easy to do in this league, but you got to do it to win football games."

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Mario Gutierrez said:

"I would like to see Carr have an efficient game similar to the game against the Eagles."

The past two games for Derek Carr have been very high and low points of the season for him.

The QB went from completing nearly 92 percent of his throws against the Eagles to committing three turnovers against the Giants. It was the most turnovers he's committed in a game since the 43-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last season.

"If I look back at this last game we moved the heck out of the football, it just was an inaccurate day for me," Carr said regarding his performance. "I don't remember a day where I'd throw a ball and I'm like, 'Dude, what is going on?' I don't remember a day in recent memory where it was like that bad. And even down in the red zone, some uncharacteristic things and it's one thing here and there."

The keyword out of all of this has to be uncharacteristic. This home game against the Chiefs will be the perfect bounce back game for Carr, especially with the addition of a deep threat in DeSean Jackson to the roster, who will help in attacking a Chiefs pass defense that's allowed the fifth-most passing yards this season.

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Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver DeSean Jackson (1) during practice at Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.