The Oakland Raiders blew a golden opportunity to put the division title in their hip pocket with a 21-13 loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City. They came out flat all around in this game and the offense never really got started. They had one impressive drive to close out the first half, but did little else. The Defense got it together and did what they had to by stopping the Chiefs and creating opportunities. The offense simply could not capitalize on them. The Chiefs have a certain mystique over the Raiders because it is not often that you go scoreless in 3 out of 4 quarters, commit 3 turnovers deep in your own territory and come away with a win .

MVP – Khalil Mack

Mack was either directly or indirectly responsible for the 2 turnovers early in the 3rd quarter which gave the Raiders the opportunity to win this game. His pressure on Alex Smith caused him to hurry just enough to keep him from surveying the field and forced an early throw, which was intercepted by TJ Carrie. The offense ended up settling for a FG. On the next Chiefs drive, his strip sack gave the Raiders their 3rd turnover and another shot deep in Chiefs territory. A botched FG was the result. The defense stepped up when they had to by shutting out the Chiefs in the first, third and fourth quarters.

LVP – Offense and Special Teams

From coaching to the play on the field, the Offense was terrible. The Special Teams fell apart. The Raiders clearly did not want to win this game. They had plenty of chances and the Chiefs really did not play all that well. I give credit to their defense for some of the ineptitude of our offense since they did make some pretty good plays, but miscommunications and dropped passes were what beat the Raiders more than the Chiefs defense. The botched FG and poorly placed punt by Marquette King were blaring negatives on special teams which also made a difference.

Key Stat – 6

The Raiders only scored 6 points on 3 turnovers; all deep in Chiefs territory. They started drives at the 38 and twice on the 18 yard line of the Chiefs and basically went nowhere. Had they been able to convert those to TDs, we could well be looking at a win here. Just seems like the Chiefs have the Raiders number because how often does a team give the ball up deep in their own territory 3 times and come away with a win?

Tweet(s) of the Day

I’ll caveat my colleague’s point here by saying that if they score TDs on those 3 turnovers, this game isn’t close, as my good friend Ron reiterates here:

What this Loss Means

The Raiders drop to the 5th seed in the playoff race. They will need to win out and get a ton of help from the most unlikely of sources; the Titans, Broncos and Chargers to win the division now. It also decreases the likelihood of a home playoff game. They still are not a sure lock to even make the playoffs. Their best chance was to win this game. They have a lot to overcome.

Up Next

Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers

Sunday, December 18th, 2016 1:05 p.m. PST

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