Chiefs vs. Raiders: Breaking Down Oakland's Game Plan

The Oakland Raiders' Week 12 Thursday Night Football matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs is a prime opportunity for the Silver and Black to earn its first victory. 

Why? Despite an abysmal season, this Raiders team has the roster depth to take advantage of a weary familiar divisional opponent—who just played a physical game against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks three days prior. 

This circumstance favors Oakland in terms of bodies ready to play at optimum level on short rest. The Chiefs offense hinges on the playmaking ability of running back Jamaal Charles. Knile Davis has recently entered the fold, contributing 421 rushing yards and five touchdowns, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

However, Charles is still the focal point of this offense—as he goes so do the Chiefs. In the three games Charles failed to score a touchdown, Kansas City failed to win the game.

Oakland’s roster doesn’t feature a bunch of Pro Bowl players, but they have compiled a deep roster that is somewhat proven on the professional level, specifically on offense. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson and interim head coach Tony Sparano need to spread the Chiefs defense thin and use speed to claim the victory.

Alex Smith isn’t going to beat an NFL team with his arm—throwing for more than 300 yards starting from his own 20-yard line. Field positioning is important. The Raiders cannot make critical mistakes giving Smith a short field to capitalize on turnovers.

Oakland must accomplish two objectives. First, spreading the ball on offense among their receivers. Second, maintaining control of the area between the line of scrimmage and midfield on defense.

Keep Charles Out of the End Zone

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As mentioned, when Charles doesn’t score, the Chiefs don’t win. Kansas City lacks the playmakers to sustain or overtake a lead when its perennial running back is bottled up. It’s a tough task, but the Raiders have the run support and tackling efficiency to prevent the dual-threat running back from taking over Thursday's game.

Safety Charles Woodson is just as effective in run support as he is in coverage.

	Snaps	Tackles	Tackling Efficiency	Stops
In Coverage	345	29	8.2	10
In Run Stop	319	34	7.0	14

Charles' elusive rating is 35.3, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He’s not as dangerous beyond the help of his offensive line

If Charles advances past the first layer of the defense—solid tackling from Khalil Mack, Sio Moore and Woodson can bring him down.

Khalil Mack	9.8
Sio Moore	8.8
Charles Woodson	7.5

Oakland cannot ignore Charles' ability to catch and run. Kansas City’s star running back is also the third-leading receiver in receptions with 22 catches—scoring two touchdowns.

Smith has only thrown 13 passes for 20 yards or more, according to PFF. Oakland's linebacker corps must be prepared to tackle in the open field.

The defensive line should emulate a little bit of J.J Watt's technique—getting their hands up when the ball is released to swat and bat down passes over the middle.

Linebackers Miles Burris, Mack and Moore must control the middle of the field. Assignment discipline will be important when attempting to keep Charles from breaking out for runs of 15 or more yards as well as screen passes. Oakland can defend screen passes by spreading the defensive ends out to contain the running back, funneling him into the linebackers at the heart of the defense. 

Utilize Depth on Offense

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The Raiders have five receivers capable of attacking the Chiefs' pass defense. More importantly, the offensive line has kept quarterback Derek Carr off the ground. He has only been sacked 11 times in 10 games. Olson needs to take the training wheels off his rookie quarterback's arm and allow him take shots down the field.

Kansas City has the No. 1-ranked pass defense, but Oakland can attack nickelback Marcus Cooper and banged-up starting cornerback Jamell Fleming.

According to Herbie Teope of Chiefs Digest, Fleming will attempt to return from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss three games. He practiced in preparation for Thursday’s game.

Oakland’s receivers can rack up yards in bulk. Four receivers are averaging over 10 yards per catch. A fifth receiver Denarius Moore is averaging 15.3 yards per catch in four NFL seasons.

Drawing the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage will allow these receivers space to catch and run down field. This is the perfect situation to feed the ball to Maurice Jones-Drew and Latavius Murray to supplement Darren McFadden's workload. The threat of a viable rushing attack neutralizes Kansas City's aggressive pass rush and creates opportunities downfield for Carr.

Harry How/Getty Images

Oakland's offense needs more aggressive play calls. No more spoon-feeding Carr high-percentage passes, taking baby steps down the field. The Raiders are 0-10 and have nothing more to lose at this point. The Chiefs' pass defense is susceptible to getting burned by the type of speedy receivers Oakland has in abundance.

The fatigue factor has been talked about all over the league when discussing Thursday games. It’s no secret players aren’t 100 percent week-to-week, much less on a short week. The Raiders come into this game equipped with a deep wide receiver corps and a trio of running backs capable of balancing Oakland's offense.

Above all, Oakland cannot beat itself with penalties or turnovers. Smith won’t throw his team to a victory, but he rarely makes mistakes (only four interceptions). The Raiders must take Carr off safe mode and allow him to make more plays than Smith is willing to make down the stretch.

Unless otherwise noted, all advanced statistics are provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com.

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