Chiefs: Team grades in win over Raiders
By Andrew Jones
Special Teams: B
This really should be graded into two halves as the Chiefs in the first half had difficulty on special teams by missing both an extra point and a field goal. However, in the second half they played perfectly with a made extra point and two field goals. Cairo Santos is a good kicker that let the field condition get into his head and he tried too hard to compensate. Once he shook that off, his kicks were perfectly down the middle each time.
The punting was good with Colquitt continuing to be a solid but not overly powerful punter. He pinned the Raiders inside their own twenty twice but thankfully with a wet ball and nasty field, he wasn’t called on too often.
Tyreek Hill is bringing exciting kick and punt returns back to Kansas City. His 50 yard punt return in the third quarter showed just a fraction of his potential. Knile Davis could be done as his concussion left room for Hill and DeAnthony Thomas to take over return duties.
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Coaching: B
Andy Reid is 16-2 after a bye. That is the main story line from this game as the offensive game plan was boring but effective. Boring but effective is usually what describes Andy Reid and Alex Smith. The offense gets too cute down in the red zone and as much as I love Dontari Poe getting touches, why don’t they ever throw a fade or slant? Every other team throws fades and slants in the end zone except for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The defense played with limited talent yet performed above their station against a very good Raiders offense. That all points to adjustments made by Bob Sutton at halftime. When you hold a team’s top scoring receiver to 2 catches for 10 yards you had a good day. They even limited Amari Cooper in the second half after he went off in the first. The Chiefs will continue to grow as a defense but face a tough test this next week against New Orleans.
What are your grades, Addicts? Let us know in the comments and thanks for reading!