The Oakland Raiders went into Week 12 as one of the hottest teams in football having won three straight, but they were humbled in a big way, going on the road and getting blown out by the New York Jets.
While the loss was obviously disappointing, at 6-5, the Raiders still have an opportunity to make the playoffs if they can win some big games coming up in the next few weeks.
Perhaps the biggest game on their schedule is this weekend when they travel to take on the first-place Kansas City Chiefs. With only one game separating the two teams, whoever wins the Week 13 matchup could very well go on to win the division.
The Raiders are coming into the game banged up as they will be without wide receiver Hunter Renfrow after he broke his rib and punctured a lung against the Jets. The Chiefs, on the other hand, are coming off their bye week so they have had an extra week to get healthy and prepared for a Raiders team that they already beat in Oakland earlier in the season.
Because of that, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden understands the challenges that his team faces going into this weekend, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports:
“We are going to have to earn every first down, we are going to have to work hard to get [Patrick] Mahomes off the field,” Gruden said. “They’re coming off a bye week. They’ll be fresh as daisies. So, it’ll be a great challenge in one of the great places and great rivalries in football. Hopefully it brings out a much better performance in us.”
In the first meeting between the two teams, the Raiders actually played the Chiefs tough outside of the second quarter when Patrick Mahomes caught fire and threw four touchdown passes.
Oakland’s secondary is also banged up and coming off a rough performance against the Jets, so they will have their hands full once again against Mahomes and the high-powered Chiefs offense.
In what could be a shootout, that puts a lot of pressure on the Raiders’ offense to put points on the board early so they are not laying from behind, which they were unable to do against the Jets.
