Raiders trampled by Chiefs in soggy divisional loss

Under a haze of falling rain, Sunday’s game started just the way the Raiders wanted it to. It didn’t come close to ending that way.

After a fast-paced first Oakland drive that resulted in a touchdown, the Raiders (4-2) split apart at the seams to lose to division rival Kansas City Chiefs, 26-10.

Head coach Jack Del Rio said about the game:

“We were outplayed and out-coached. We give them credit, they won the game.”

The Raiders defense has been a major problem all season, and the unit struggled again Sunday. The Chiefs (3-2) entered the game ranked 21st in total offense, but that wasn’t apparent as they picked Oakland apart with 406 total yards.

Del Rio was not pleased with his defense’s effort on Sunday:

“We aren’t playing very well right now. We have to teach it better, we have to learn it better and we have to do it better. It’s nowhere near what it needs to be.”

Chiefs running back Spencer Ware rumbled for 131 yards and two touchdowns, and Alex Smith was an efficient 19-for-22 for 224 yards.

The Raiders entered halftime down just 13-10, but the Chiefs blew the game open to start the second half, set up by a Ware gallop that went for 45 yards down the sideline until safety Reggie Nelson was able to wrestle him down at the 3-yard line.

On third-and-goal, the Chiefs dialed up a trick play to score on a backwards pass from Smith to defensive lineman Dontari Poe. Poe caught the pass and bruised his way into the end zone, trampling a few Raiders in the process.

Cornerback David Amerson said about the Chiefs’ offense:

“Not everything that they did was surprising, but at the end of the day, they just executed more than we did. I feel like as a defense, we got to do a better job and can’t keep giving up 20-plus points and expect to win games.

The score put Kansas City up 20-10, and the Raiders didn’t threaten the lead the rest of the afternoon. The Raiders defense struggled to keep the Chiefs contained, and the offense was stagnant after the first drive of the game.

On the initial kick off, running back Jalen Richard set the tone with a return all the way to the Chiefs’ 46-yard line.

From there, quarterback Derek Carr (22-for-34, 225 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) picked apart the Kansas City defense on three different connections to wide receiver Amari Cooper.

Cooper had his way with cornerback Phillip Gaines on each of his receptions, which resulted two 11-yard catches and one for 19.

The drive was capped off on a 3-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Andre Holmes in the back of the end zone.

On the Raiders ensuing drive, Carr threw a ball off his back foot intended for wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The ball was severely underthrown, and cornerback Marcus Peters managed to pick the ball off with ease.

Carr said about the pass:

“No excuses man, just have to make the play.”

Cooper was the lone bright spot on offense for the Silver and Black, with 10 catches for 129 yards.

The Raiders’ 10 points scored was their lowest of the season, and Cooper said they could have executed better:

“Obviously we want to come out and score as many points as possible. We want to put up 40 every game. But some games you might come out and score 10.”

Despite Cooper’s efforts, Carr and the rest of the offense struggled to get into any sort of rhythm.

Drops killed the offense on numerous occasions, especially in the first half.

With under 3:30 remaining in the first half, Carr attempted to hit a wide open Seth Roberts for a first down on 3rd-and-5. Roberts bobbled the ball and dropped what would have been an easy first down completion.

Instead of attempting a 49-yard field goal, Jack Del Rio elected to go for it on 4th-and-5 from the Chiefs 32-yard line. Sebastian Janikowski missed a 52-yard attempt earlier in the quarter, and Del Rio decided to let the offense try and keep the drive alive.

On the play, Carr attempted to hit Roberts deep along the sideline, but the ball was slightly overthrown and Roberts was unable to locate it.

The Raiders would have liked their running game to be more of a factor, to take some pressure off of Carr. Richard and DeAndre Washington combined for 14 carries and only 57 yards on the ground.

Carr said a successful running game is always a plus:

“The run game will open everything up in football. I don’t know if (the performance) was the field or if it was us, the players, or what it was, but anytime you can have that it’s going to help.”

A late fumble by Carr with 7:14 remaining was the nail in the coffin for the Raiders. They were driving inside of the Chiefs’ red zone, and Kansas City linebacker Dee Ford knocked the ball out from behind on an attempted scramble by Carr.

The Raiders (4-2) travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars (2-3) next Sunday at 10 a.m.