The Kansas City Chiefs started this season 5-0. After five weeks, the Raiders were 2-3.
Yet now, with just four games left to play, the Raiders and Chiefs are both 6-6, tied for the AFC West lead with the Chargers. If Oakland wants to win the division, a victory Sunday at Kansas City is imperative.
But to get the victory, the Raiders will have to get a win at Arrowhead Stadium, a venue in which quarterback Derek Carr has lost every one of his starts. The Chiefs just seem to find a way to trip up the Raiders when they’re on their own turf. The Raiders beat K.C. at O.co Coliseum earlier this season, but they haven’t swept the season series since 2012.
If the Raiders are to win, they’ll have to do a number of things. Though the Chiefs are in a major slump, they remain dangerous. Running back Kareem Hunt, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver/returner Tyreek Hill all are dangerous, big-play threats, and veteran quarterback Alex Smith seems to play some of his best games against the Raiders. So, the Oakland defense under new coordinator John Pagano will have to be at its best.
Yet this game could come down to a big play or two on special teams. In the past three Raiders-Chiefs games at Arrowhead, in fact, Kansas City has scored points with its special teams.
In a 31-13 loss to K.C. in 2014, De’Anthony Thomas returned a punt 81 yards. The next season, in a 23-17 decision, the Chiefs blocked a punt for a safety on a play that changed the course of the game. Last season, Hill had a 78-yard punt return for a score that was crucial in a 21-13 game.
As Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal noted this week, the Raiders haven’t been able to return the favor. In fact, Oakland has gone 141 regular-season games without a punt return for a TD (dating to December of 2008), and 102 regular-season games without a kickoff-return score (dating to October of 2011).
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If the Raiders could come up with a special-teams score Sunday – and finally shut down the Chiefs’ special teams – perhaps Oakland could come out with a win.
Cordarrelle Patterson has been a good kickoff return man for Oakland in his first season in silver and black, but hasn’t yet broken away for a score. He’s averaged 29 yards per return.
Jalen Richard is coming off a game in which he couldn’t hold on to the ball as a punt returner, but he’s been effective this season when he has. He’s had a long of 19 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per return, but averaged 9 yards in 2016 as a rookie, with one for 47 yards.
Richard told Gehlken he believes he or Patterson is capable of taking one all the way back.
“I feel it’s going to break,” he said. “I haven’t scored a touchdown yet. I don’t know how long it’s been since we’ve had a special teams touchdown for the Raiders. I feel like either me or CP, we’re going to break (one) before the end of the year.”
Oddsmakers have made the Raiders 4-point underdogs.
Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. in the Bay Area.
