Insights Into City Chiefs’ Week 11 win over Raiders

The Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders combined for a nail-biter on “Sunday Night Football.” It couldn’t happen any other way between the two teams at the top of the AFC West.

Patrick Mahomes and the offense were the stars of the show for Kansas City and they ultimately pulled out all the stops to secure the game-winning score. It was an ugly game for the Chiefs on defense, with practically nothing going right for a typically stout unit. In the end, it was Daniel Sorensen coming away with an interception to ice the game 35-31 for the good guys.

• The opening drive for the Chiefs defense was a letdown, to say the least. They allowed a six-play 75-yard scoring drive that was reminiscent of Week 5. They allowed big plays on third down, struggled to pressure Derek Carr in the passing game and let Josh Jacobs run all over them.

• A noticeable adjustment on offense was how quickly Patrick Mahomes was getting the ball out to his receivers. In Week 5, Las Vegas got a ton of pressure because the Chiefs were trying to drop back and throw it deep. This time they’re getting the ball out much more quickly.

• The one-two punch of Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Le’Veon Bell is only getting better and better for Kansas City. The way that their carries and snaps were managed tonight was the best we’ve really seen from them so far. I have a feeling that it’ll only improve as we get deeper into the regular season and postseason.

• The Chiefs don’t seem to have an answer for Darren Waller in coverage. Neither Daniel Sorensen nor Tyrann Mathieu has been able to handle him. Willie Gay Jr. actually seemed to have some of the best reps against him, but they came in zone coverage rather than man.

• Sammy Watkins can’t get back soon enough. It’s not that the other receivers are bad, but the offense just isn’t quite the well-oiled machine that it typically is when he’s on the field. He doesn’t only add another weapon, but he’ll help open up opportunities for other players like Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.

• The lack of pressure on Derek Carr during this game was truly astounding. The Chiefs defense had a single quarterback hit during the game by Chris Jones. That was the closest the team got to a sack during this game. My explanation for it has to do with the threat of Josh Jacobs in the ground game. I feel like the edge rush could have got more pressure had they lined up wide, but that would open up some rushing lanes for Jacobs. Seems like Steve Spagnuolo opted to not get gashed on the ground.

• Penalties again hurt the Chiefs quite a bit in this game, especially on special teams. They had two penalties on kick returns and one penalty on a punt return. It’s not a great look coming off the bye week, especially when special teams are supposed to be a strength of the team.

• A really disappointing look late in the game came on the Chiefs sideline, which appeared to have Chris Jones and rookie CB L’Jarius Sneed getting into it. Instead of working together to stop the Raiders, they were fighting amongst themselves. Obviously, we don’t know the full story here, but it didn’t look like a productive conversation.

• Travis Kelce made one of the most impressive sideline catches I’ve ever seen tonight. It was a 19-yard toe-dragging grab late in the fourth quarter. It’s one thing when you see a receiver with the body control to do that, but a 6-5 and 260-pound tight end, it’s just unheard of.

• How about Patrick Mahomes? He needed just over 60 seconds to march this team down the field and score on the Raiders in crunch time. You can’t leave any time left on the clock for him if you’re the opposing team.