Laddie Morse
This will be a season defining game. Can the Kansas City Chiefs right the ship or will they go down swinging? Sorry for the mixed metaphor, but these are mixed-up times. Is it a Dynasty… or do they die nasty? Either way, it sounds the same… it just doesn’t feel the same. The Raiders are far whose off as their Head Coach, from the beginning of the season, Josh McDaniels, was fired on October 31st, one day after losing their 5th game of the season. That’s not all the bad news they’ve had this year… NFL.com is reporting that the Raider’s starting QB has been benched:
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“Jimmy Garoppolo, the offseason’s big-time acquisition, has been benched six starts into his tenure in Vegas, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Wednesday, per sources informed of the plans.”
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That’s the reason AIdan O’Connell is pictured on the featured graphic for this piece (see above). The rookie QB is out of Purdue and has three (3) TDs and six (6) INTs during his time as the starter for Vegas. All three of his INTs came last week against the Dolphins in a 20 to 13 loss in Miami. The Chiefs excellent defensive backfield should eat him alive much the way the Dolphins secondary did. What has been more apparent is the change at the Head Coaching position: Josh McDaniels is out, and Antonio Pierce is in (more on this later).
What many fans are more concerned about is the Raiders pass rush which includes Maxx Crosby. However, Crosby has been listed as doubtful because of a knee injury so we’ll have to see how the Chiefs OL handles the Raiders depleted DL.
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Injury Reports
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If teams were as truthful as the Chiefs, we’d already know if Crosby was really OUT for this game. However, it’s understandable that teams want to keep K.C. in the dark as long as possible. OTH, Kadarius Toney has also been listed as OUT for this game since this listing was published… so what are ya gunna do?
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Coaching
Antonio Pierce, who is now the Raiders interim Head Coach, is 45 years old and played for both the Washington team and the New York Giants where he won Super Bowl XLII. I won’t be at all surprised if they keep Pierce as their HC next season. Pierce played the Linebacker position and played it well garnering a Pro Bowl selection in 2006. In fact, he played LB on the SB winning team that Steve Spagnuolo coached as Defensive Coordinator following the 2007 season when they combined to beat the heavily favored New England Patriots. Here’s what Steve Spagnuolo had to say about Antonio Pierce this week:
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“I’m pulling for him in all but two games. Antonio is one of my favorite football players, one of the most cerebral, smartest players I coached. We don’t beat the Patriots, if Antonio is not running the show on defense.”
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So, we know Pierce has Steve Spagnuolo’s respect… and attention. Spags has his defense playing at the highest level they’ve played at in his tenure as the Chiefs DC. Jeff Fedotin for Forbes.com had this to say this week about Spags:
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“Spagnuolo not only designed a scheme that limited the highest scoring offensive team in NFL history at the time [a 17-to-14 win], but that impressive defensive performance also helped him land the St. Louis Rams’ head coaching job in 2009.”
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I’d hate to see Spags move on after this season is over, but I guess that’s a possibility.
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Confidence
What the Chiefs have had in spades is “confidence”… until now. The last three games K.C. hasn’t scored a single point in the second half. When you consider that they have the best second half QB in the game, that’s a distressing sign. If you were to get to choose one QB in the league in the final minute of a game in which your team was down by three points… 90% of the NFL fans would likely choose Patrick Mahomes. Now, that was before three week ago. So, it’ll be crucial for us to watch and see how well the Chiefs offense performs in the second half of this game.
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Mahomes’ Road Career Record
In Patrick Mahomes career he has a 36-and-10 winning record on the Road. This season? He’s 0-and-1 with his loss to the Denver Broncos. That one loss may be enough to turn things around for the rest of the AFC West… becasue his only Road loss this season came against a Broncos teams: 24-to-9. That was not only the beginning of a three-game streak when they couldn’t score any points in the second half of a game but they had zero TDs — passing or running — in that game. Now, that’s truly disturbing.
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Coverage on Adams
Davante Adams will likely be covered — most of the time — by L’Jarius Sneed (LJ). I won’t be at all surprised if LJ comes up with an INT or if he bats one of Aidan O’Connell’s passes in the air and another DB for K.C. intercepts it. While I think the biggest story will be whether or not Maxx Crosby plays or not, the second biggest story will be how well Sneed covers Adams.
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Other Big Stories
RB Josh Jacobs leads the league in attempts with 200, the is 8th best in total yards gain with 661. So, one of the biggest stories of this game will be how well the Chiefs front seven handle the Raiders running game. Another big story of this game will be the Chiefs wideouts and whether or not they can break out of their zero points in the second half doldrums. Since Vegas pass defense is 24th in the NFL right now, I expect big things from the Chiefs wide receiving corp (keeping fingers crossed). The Special Teams should put on a good show for both teams as K.C. is currently ranked 10th and the Raiders are ranked 13th. Whether or not Montrell Washington can hold onto the ball on kick returns will tell us a lot about this battle.
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Games Already Played This Weekend
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While the NFC games matter little to me, I was hoping the Dolphins would lose to the Jets. Didn’t happen. Although the Dolphins will have the same record if the Chiefs win against the Raiders today, the Chiefs have an advantage over them because they’ve already beat them. If K.C. wins today… they will also jump to the top of the Conference over the Raven because Baltimore has a worse Conference record (5-3 to the Chiefs 6-1).
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Disappearing Magic Trick?
I mostly enjoy Magic Tricks, especially those kinds where a Magician makes something disappear. However, this is not that. How many passes has Patrick Mahomes thrown this season in which he made it look like Magic? You know, the:
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• Playing injured Magic Trick
• Sidearm Action Magic Trick
• How Did He Avoid Being Sacked Magic Trick
• Jump Passing Magic Trick
• How Did He Throw That So Far Magic Trick
• Passing Back Across the Field Magic Trick
• No-look Passing Magic Trick
• Pinpoint Passing Magic Trick
• How Did He Make That Throw Magic Trick
• Left Handed Passing Magic Trick
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Either I’ve gotten blind to the special plays Mahomes is making and I just don’t see the magic anymore, or… he’s not making those plays anymore. While I think he is making some of those plays, many of them, he is not. While these astounding plays have helped him become the G.O.A.T… now I’m beginning to wonder.
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Referee Assignment
Land Clark and his crew draws the assignment for this game in Vegas between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Raiders. Clark is a 61 year old official who has been with the NFL since 2018. He served as a Field Judge and a Side Judge for two seasons then moved on to become a Referee with his own crew. Clark lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and currently serves as the chief building official for the city of Albuquerque.
I’m of the opinion that the NFL should pay their referees a full time wage and with the ascendence of gambling in and around the NFL, I think that’s more important than ever.
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Winning and Losing
The Chiefs record is currently 7-and-3 while the Las Vegas Raiders are 5-and-6. If the Raiders lose one more game they can count themselves out of the playoffs. Maybe not mathematically, but for all intents and purposes, they’re done. If the Raiders win this game, they take their record to 6-and-6 and are at a break even standpoint. If K.C. wins this game, they shoot back to the top of the AFC Conference with an 8-and-3 record. If K.C. loses this game, they fall to 7-and-4 and are in a much tougher position to end up with the AFC Championship game played in Arrowhead.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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