Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs Full Report Card Grades for Oakland
The Oakland Raiders’ Thursday night matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs jumped off to a rocky start when the team confirmed offensive guard Kelechi Osemele would miss the game due to an illness. Ironically, the ground attack produced without him, but the stars who typically contribute to fourth-quarter comebacks struggled throughout the game.
Quarterback Derek Carr never established his rhythm and labeled his performance a random poor showing during his postgame interview. In games started and finished, the Raiders signal-caller notched a career-worst in passing yards. Through the telecast, NBC announcers focused on Carr purposely protecting his pinky; an injured finger in the cold weather probably factored into his issues with ball placement.
Carr, who shouldered the blame for Thursday’s loss during his press conference, won’t admit a combination of an injury and frigid temperatures negatively affected his game. Though it’s obvious fans watching at home didn’t see the same MVP hopeful who marched the offense downfield for five game-winning touchdown passes within 12 games.
The Raiders signal-caller wore a glove on his non-throwing hand but never covered his right hand. Calls for Carr to go back to throwing with a glove circulated through social media as Carr continued to miss targets.
The receivers also dropped several passes, which squandered opportunities to capitalize on the Chiefs' turnovers. The Raiders only scored six points off three takeaways. As a result, the Silver and Black magic streak ended in Week 14 with a loss.
We’ll break down each position group’s performance.
Quarterback
1 of 9
As mentioned, Carr’s MVP stock plummeted on the prime-time stage in a pivotal game. He completed 17-of-41 passes for 117 yards without a touchdown. He often sailed targets out of reach, placed a ball too low or simply took the receiver off the ideal mark on routine plays.
It’s not in Carr’s personality to point the finger or blame his shortcomings on an injury, but it’s fair to feel concerned about his dislocated pinky on the throwing hand in cold weather, especially in January playoff temperatures.
Assuming the Raiders clinch a postseason spot, he should strongly consider wearing a protective glove in frigid or inclement weather conditions.
Grade: F
Running Backs
2 of 9
Despite Osemele’s absence, the ground attack flashed as the lone bright spot on offense.
Latavius Murray logged his second 100-yard game, and Jalen Richard added six carries for 29 yards. Combined, both ball-carriers averaged 4.7 yards per carry. In the second half specifically, the Chiefs didn’t have an answer for the soon-to-be free-agent running back.
When necessary, the Raiders have found success playing bully ball with Murray. Despite DeAndre Washington’s availability, he finished with zero carries.
Richard has solidified his spot as the primary complementary component in a productive backfield.
Grade: A
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 9
The Raiders receivers didn’t provide any favors for their struggling quarterback. Seth Roberts dropped several passes in critical situations. He’s known for coming through with big catches, but his hands turned into stone on Thursday night.
Through the first half of the season, Michael Crabtree secured spectacular catches. Lately, though, he’s struggled to hold on to the football—that trend continued against the Chiefs.
There’s a discrepancy about whether a pass to Amari Cooper hit the NBC spider cam. If so, it still doesn’t excuse him from a modest performance in which he caught five passes for 29 yards.
None of the Raiders receivers reached 30 receiving yards. Mychal Rivera and Clive Walford combined for five catches and 47 yards, but neither had enough volume to pull the offense out of a rut.
Grade: F
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line
4 of 9
Initially, rookie Vadal Alexander filled Osemele’s spot at left guard. After the Chiefs defensive linemen pushed him around on a few downs, Jon Feliciano saw action at the position. Both players played a decent amount of snaps and fared well as the game progressed.
The Raiders offensive line didn’t go into panic mode without their best interior run-blocker; the unit only allowed one sack and opened holes for the running backs.
With Oakland’s depth at the position and Mike Tice's guidance, it’s the most reliable group on the roster.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 9
On the bright side, Chiefs running back Spencer Ware didn’t gash the Raiders’ defensive front similar to his Week 6 performance. The front line regained their dignity and denied the Chiefs on a fourth down attempt.
Khalil Mack extended his strip-sack streak to three games. He’s also brought down the quarterback in eight consecutive contests.
Unlike the past few games, players other than Mack penetrated the opposing offensive line to close running lanes. With seven tackles, rookie Jihad Ward played one of his best games.
Grade: B+
Linebackers
6 of 9
During the telecast, Cris Collinsworth pointed out Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s ability to hold a block on Bruce Irvin, who blended into the background on Thursday. Unlike Mack, he didn’t extend his sack streak, which ends after three games.
Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith seemed comfortable going to Kelce over the middle and in the short passing attack, and he logged a few receptions with linebacker Malcolm Smith in coverage.
As Irvin fulfils a pass-rushing role, the Raiders don’t have a linebacker capable of shadowing a unique talent at tight end.
Grade: B-
Defensive Backs
7 of 9
Kelce also embarrassed safety Nate Allen on his deeper routes. The veteran defensive back couldn’t slow down the Chiefs tight end, who logged 100-plus yards in four consecutive games. He didn’t score a touchdown, but he consistently moved the chains with critical receptions.
The Chiefs didn’t take ample shots downfield with the wide receivers. However, when Smith attempted deep throws, the Raiders defensive backs ran two to three steps behind in coverage. Tyreek Hill and Chris Conley recorded catches for 35-plus yards on Thursday.
Grade: C+
Special Teams
8 of 9
The Raiders special teams cost them three points on a botched field-goal snap and allowed a 78-yard punt for six more points.
Punter Marquette King attempted to run for the first down and failed. Oakland rekicked after an out-of-bounds penalty, which allowed Hill to burn a gassed special teams unit on a second opportunity.
Kicker Sebastian Janikowski scored seven of the Raiders’ 13 points. As long as the offense puts their kicker in a spot within 47 yards, the 38-year-old seems reliable.
If the Raiders had handled the snap correctly, they would’ve cut into the Chiefs’ 21-13 lead with plenty of time to take the lead.
Grade: D
Coaching Staff
9 of 9
The coaching staff came into the matchup with a sound offensive game plan. The Raiders tried to take what the Chiefs defense allowed, but the players lacked execution.
Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave called in some head-scratchers; instead of handing off to Murray at 3rd-and-1, Carr threw an end-zone pass to Andre Holmes who filled in for Crabtree at that juncture.
Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. doesn’t receive much praise, but his defense pitched a scoreboard shutout in the second half. Sure, the Raiders allowed 21 points through 30 minutes, but the group also forced three turnovers.
The defense also provided the offense with good field positioning, but the Raiders failed to capitalize throughout the night.
Grade: C
Stats provided by NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
Follow Maurice Moton on Twitter for news, updates and intriguing discussion about the Oakland Raiders.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
