Film Study: How the Chiefs can pummel the Raiders in Oakland
By Grant Tuttle
The Chiefs come off of their bye week healthier and excited for Eric Berry‘s return. Here’s how they can defeat the lowly Raiders.
The Oakland Raiders pitiful season continues in Week 13, this time against the top team in the AFC West: the Kansas City Chiefs.
In what has been a dumpster fire of a season, Jon Gruden and the Raiders are aiming to upset the Chiefs in Oakland to have some glimmer of hope for the next decade of Gruden’s coaching. The Chiefs, however, seem to be improving by the week, and it seems rather unlikely that a team that does virtually nothing well can pull off this kind of victory.
The Chiefs can exploit the Raiders in many ways. In fact, almost anything that the Chiefs would try to do offensively would be exploitative of how poor the Raiders play on that side of the ball. Here is how Kansas City can avoid getting defeated in a “trap” game:
Offensively:
Attack defensive backs downfield:
Look. The Raiders defense is weak sauce. It really doesn’t matter how you hit them, but you can put up huge numbers in big chunks if you throw the ball downfield. Last season, the Raiders had the worst defensive backfield in the NFL and frankly, it does not look any different this season. The Chiefs could put up huge numbers if they push the ball downfield.
On this play, it appears that #22 Rashaan Melvin gets confused and believes that he will have help over the top from a safety. This is just too easy for Lamar Jackson, who hits fellow rookie Mark Andrews down the sideline for a huge gain. This kind of miscommunication and misplacement is rampant in the Raiders film.
Run some read options:
Among issues against the pass, the Raiders struggle against speed, as they have very little on defense. The Raiders struggle in defending option and read plays. If Andy Reid wants to implemement some of those quick “college style” plays into the playbook this week, they would be very successful.
On this play, Russell Wilson gives the ball to Rashaad Penny who has a large space to run through because the defense stands pat, thinking that Wilson will keep it. It looks rather undisciplined for a defense made of veterans.
Run some play action bootlegs:
Again this is that lack of discipline. The Raiders lack the ability to read well on defense, which allows receivers to break open immediately. The Chiefs would be wise to add a lot of play action this week, because of how nervous the Raiders are about giving up big plays on the ground due to their lack of speed.
On this play, the Raiders bite on the play fake, then recover and then get fooled again. Reggie Nelson crashes down, thinking that the pass is going to the fullback who is breaks out on the flat. This leads to the receiver downfield to be more open than I have seen any receiver all season. If Tyler Palko was playing quarterback on this play, he could have made this pass.