Five reasons the Kansas City Chiefs will dominate the Raiders

3. The Chiefs Defense Should Have A Good Night

While the Chiefs’ offense gets most of the attention, their young defense deserves some credit too and there are some defensive numbers that look promising for the Chiefs in this matchup as well.

While Josh Jacobs is off to a good start this season, he could have a tough game tonight. The Chiefs’ defense entered the weekend with the second-best rushing yards per carry allowed in the NFL at just 3.3. That’s significantly better than they have been in recent years. However, even last season when KC’s run defense was worse, the Chiefs did a great job of stopping Jacobs. Jacobs averaged just 2.3 and 2.7 yards per carry in their games against KC last season.

Things don’t look a lot better for Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. The Chiefs defense has given up a lot of yards and late passing touchdowns after games were out of reach, but their 6.3 yards per pass attempt allowed was the 7th best in the NFL after four weeks. So teams are having to dink and dunk on KC and that’s a tough way to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense.

The Chiefs defense was also tied for the 7th most sacks in the NFL after four weeks and the Raiders’ offensive line isn’t known for being very good. Last season the Chiefs averaged 3 sacks per game in their two matchups and I think you could definitely see them match that number tonight, especially if the Chiefs are putting up points and stuffing the run which will force the Raiders into a pass-heavy mindset.

Derek Carr has also thrown an interception in seven straight games against the Chiefs. So if you’re a betting person, betting on a Carr pick tonight makes sense both from a historical perspective as well as potential game script-wise. Carr’s mistakes are a big reason why he is just 3-13 in his career against the Chiefs.

Things look a little more optimistic for KC’s quarterback.