Chiefs vs. Raiders: The mastery of Andy Reid and other lessons learned
By Byron Smith
There were plenty of (good) lessons to be learned in this young season about the Kansas City Chiefs in their road victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Despite being only two weeks old, the NFL’s 100th season has been nothing short of amazing.
Nothing seems guaranteed with Super Bowl contenders dropping close games, star players emerging out of nowhere, in-season retirements, and dramatic storylines that continue to develop—even when you think they are finished. It looks like the NFL is set for a memorable year in a historic season.
The Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday afternoon against the Oakland Raiders was historic on its own. It was the last NFL game played with a dirt infield. It was also the only time a Chiefs vs. Raiders game went scoreless for an entire half. The Chiefs also clinched an all-time winning record in Oakland, and there was, of course, those 4 touchdowns in a single quarter from Patrick Mahomes.
Even when the stats were not historic, they were still impressive. Mahomes had 443 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. Chiefs wide receiver Demarcus Robinson caught 172 of those yards for 2 touchdowns. Tight end Travis Kelce had 107 receiving yards and 1 touchdown. The Chiefs defense stepped up and kept the Raiders from scoring outside of the first 10 minutes.
By moving past the stats of the box score, however, the Kingdom can see how a dominant performance by the Chiefs became possible. Especially considering this game is a divisional game, it becomes essential to take this game into context and learn as much as possible for the games moving forward. So here are the lessons that can be learned from the Chief’s win over the Raiders.
The Secondary Steps Up
During the week, information came out that Miami was allowing second year cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick to seek out a trade. One obvious team that was thrown into the conversation was the Chiefs. Given that Patrick Peterson continues to be linked to Kansas City via fans’ hopes or actual rumors and it’s clear that a move is expected at cornerback at some point in the near future. That’s not including the one corner who is set to return after week 4 in Morris Claiborne.
Much has been said about the Chiefs’ weak secondary and it would make sense for Brett Veach to pursue all options to try and strengthen it. Which means potentially everyone in the secondary is in danger of losing their position.
Fortunately the secondary played like that was the case—as every single player played like they could lose their starting position tomorrow.
Where Kansas City only managed to defend 3 passes and pull in a single interception off a tipped balled last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, this week, the Chiefs doubled that number. They batted away 6 passes and pulled in 2 interceptions (Bashaud Breeland, Charvarius Ward), including one in the end zone to stop a Raiders scoring drive. Due to some good coverage, this secondary also opened the door for three sacks, one of which belongs to cornerback Kendall Fuller.
This defense rallied around a secondary that was playing like it had something to prove and they kept the Raiders from scoring any points outside of the first ten minutes.