Busters
CB Brandon Facyson, S Johnathan Abram
It would be useless to try and pinpoint who between these two was torched the most. Both of them were ripped time and time again.
Abram was up first. He gave up an 11-yard catch and a 19-yard catch that put the Chiefs in the red zone on their second drive, leading to their first touchdown.
It was Facyson’s turn in the second quarter. He gave up a 16-yard catch on third and seven and then left Tyreek Hill wide open in the end zone for a TD to put the Chiefs up 17-7.
With the Raiders pulling to within three, down 17-14 early in the third quarter, Abram and Facyson went back to work. Or rather back to getting work.
Abram gave up a ten-yard catch that put the Chiefs in first and goal from the nine. Then on fourth and goal from the one, Facyson gave up the touchdown to rookie tight end Noah Gray to give them a 24-14 lead.
That lead would grow late in the third on a drive that started with Facyson giving up a 16-yard catch and then a 29-yard catch on third and two that led to a field goal.
Early in the fourth, the Chiefs called a fake punt on fourth and seven. Punter Tommy Townsend caught the snap and threw it instead and Facyson wasn’t ready for it at all. He had a big cushion and turned upfield when reserve receiver Marcus Kemp stopped and turned to make the catch for a 16-yard gain to put the Chiefs at the Vegas 37-yard-line.
Three plays later, Mahomes threw deep for his running back Darrel Williams with Abram covering. And Abram inexplicably leaped away from the ball, allowing Williams to simply reach in front of him to catch it for the touchdown. All Abram had to do was stand there. Even better would have been blocking out Williams. But that didn’t happen. Not at all.
That TD probably put the game out of reach. But just to be sure, on the next drive Abram missed a tackle on Travis Kelce allowing him to go for 30 yards. Then two plays later, neither Abram nor Facyson covered Byron Pringle as he caught a 22-yard touchdown to make this one a laugher.
QB Derek Carr
Things weren’t going great in the first half, but the game was still manageable. And the first drive of the third quarter showcased a couple of brilliant passes from Carr, including the 37-yard touchdown to Bryan Edwards.
The next drive Carr picked up right where he left off, with a 24-yard pass to Edwards. Then he aired one out for DeSean Jackson. But the pass didn’t quite lead Jackson as much as it should have, causing him to slow down and the defenders to catch up. Jackson still made the catch, and his ensuing fumble was all on him. But we can’t give Carr a pass (so to speak) considering that could’ve — and probably should’ve — been a touchdown had he stepped into the throw and led Jackson properly.
Things snowballed from there. Carr threw up a moon ball on third down of the next possession, backing up to try and avoid pressure and two Chiefs defenders could’ve picked it. One did. Then Carr did it again to end the next drive, this time there just happened to be no one at all in the area in the middle of the field where he threw it. Ideally, there would have at least been one of his receivers somewhere in the same zip code.
At the time of Carr’s interception, it was a 13-point game. That was the end of the third quarter. The Chiefs capitalized on the turnover and the four-play drive that came after to quickly make it a 27-point lead.
LB Denzel Perryman
One of those times that leading the team in tackles is misleading. The Chiefs’ first scoring drive featured Perryman giving up a seven-yard catch and missing a tackle on a 22-yard screen play.
Their second scoring drive had Perryman again giving up a seven-yard catch followed by being blocked on a 22-yard run. The drive ended with a field goal.
On their third scoring drive, Perryman fell down on a 16-yard catch on third and seven. On the next play, he was unable to make the stop on Mecole Hardman who made the catch in his zone for 27 yards. Later in the drive, Perryman was blocked on a two-yard run on 4th and one to put the Chiefs in first and goal from the two. They were in the end zone two plays later to take a 17-7 lead.
The final touchdown of the game was set up by a 30-yard catch and run by Travis Kelce. Several players missed tackles on that play. Perryman had the second shot at him and failed to make the stop.
G Alex Leatherwood, G John Simpson
When Derek Carr leads the team with 18 yards rushing, you have some serious issues. It didn’t end with run blocking either.
The Raiders’ first drive they lined up in fourth and one and opted to go for it. That was until Alex Leatherwood jumped early and was flagged for a false start. Then the punt team took the field instead. That became Leatherwood’s 9th penalty of the season which is second-most in the league.
Even when the Raiders scored, it almost didn’t happen because Carr’s two-yard touchdown pass to Renfrow was thrown with Jarran Reed bearing down on him after Simpson was beaten on the block.
It turns out that was a sign of things to come for Simpson. The next drive, he gave up a run stuff and two plays later, on third and nine, he gave up the sack to end the drive in four plays.
Late in the third, with the Raiders within two scores, Leatherwood gave up a run stuff and then on third-and-seven was beaten to give up pressure in Carr’s face, which led to Carr attempting to throw while falling backward and he was picked off.
In the next series, Simpson gave up a hit on Carr causing him to make another off-target pass.
WR DeSean Jackson
All Jackson had to do was run toward the goal line after he caught the ball. He might have scored. At the very least he would have been close to the goal line. But he saw Rashad Fenton coming and thought Fenton would overcommit and he could spin and he would just fly by. That didn’t happen. Fenton instead punched the ball out and a big play turned into the play that started the Raiders’ quick decline.
Jackson seemed to have designs on making his first catch as a Raider be a highlight reel catch that saw him high-step into the end zone. Well, he was half right. It was a highlight. But not for him or the Raiders.
DE Yannick Ngakoue
Ngakoue was held without a single statistic of any kind. No tackles, no QB hits. The only time he impacted the game was a pressure he had that led to an incompletion. Then two plays later he and Crosby both jumped offsides on third and goal from the nine. Two plays later the Chiefs scored. The lack of pressure from his side undoubtedly played a role in Mahomes having the time to pick apart the Raiders secondary as he did.
DC Gus Bradley
The Raiders had no answer for Travis Kelce. Not to say that’s anything new, but I think most people expected Bradley — who has been game planning to stop Kelce twice a year the past five years — to have a better plan. You can add Tyreek Hill to that as well. Too many times the Raiders put single coverage on Hill with no safety help.
The plan was surprising. The result was not. A previously underperforming Chiefs offense had a coming-out party to the tune of 406 yards and five touchdowns through the air and their highest point differential of the season.
[vertical-gallery id=86294]
[lawrence-newsletter]