Chiefs beat the Raiders to take Control of the AFC West

By Djack

One of the more important games for determining who will win the AFC west division title was played last night, I know, not your typical Thursday night snoozer that we've all come accustom to. The Raiders have one of the top ranked offenses in the league with a ton of playmakers on that side of the ball and the Chiefs have one of the top ranked defenses in the league with a ton of playmakers on that side of the ball. So something was gonna have to give. It'd be the Raiders passing game that would do the giving, Derek Carr had the worst game of his career, in what was probably the biggest game of his career. If your going to claim to be the Kobe Bryant of football you better show up when it counts. Carr definitely didn't show up, he posted a 9.7 QBR, completed 41% of his passes, averaged 2.8 yards per attempt, ultimately he had a night to forget.

The funny thing is that if you look at the box score last night, you'd probably think the Raiders won this game. They won the turnover battle by a wide margin, Chiefs had 3, Raiders had 0, and they won the time of possession battle as well. The Chiefs took away the Raiders bread and butter though, which is the passing game, and despite clearly not being able to push the ball down the field through the air all night, Jack Del Rio continued to try all night. Carr didn't complete one pass on 15+ yards last night, that's why it was so strange that on 3rd and 1 that they'd throw a deep ball to the endzone, instead of just trying their chances with Murray up the middle. Latavius Murray was averaging almost 5 YPC, so I didn't understand the play calling at all on that play. Cost the Raiders the game and most likely the division.

The Chiefs are officially a serious contender, I think everyone who tuned into the game last night could see that. Tyreke Hill is a phenom, watching him take that punt to house was one of the craziest displays of speed I've ever seen on a football field. Marquis King, the Raiders loveable punter, out kicked the punt coverage giving Hill time to pick up speed. Once Hill got to full speed it was like mosses parting the Red Sea. Except it was Hill parting the white sea with ultrasonic speed. Alex Smith had a helluva a first half. He destroyed the Raiders secondary, going 5/5 for 138 yards and 1 touchdown on throws 10+ yards down the field. Chiefs had a tough time closing the door on this game because their lack of a run game, they averaged 2.4 YPC last night. Chiefs found a way to win once again though, making them 19-3 in their last 22 games, best in the NFL, and they're also division leaders in the AFC west as well. Seems like the Chiefs just win baby.