On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs face the Las Vegas Raiders. We welcome Matt Holder of Silver and Black Pride — our sister SB Nation site covering the Raiders— for Five Questions with the Enemy.
1. With head coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith joining the team, were expectations higher than what you’ve seen so far?
Expectations
were definitely higher, stemming from what Carroll and Smith said during their press conferences this offseason. Carroll talked several times about how he’s a proven winner and ready to win now, while Smith exuded confidence that he’s the right guy to lead the team. However, the Raiders have significantly underperformed — to the point where the head coach admitted that the team isn’t as far along as he’d thought it would be after losing to the Chicago Bears. And one of the biggest reasons they’ve lost so many games is that the quarterback leads the league with 10 interceptions.
2. Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty has surpassed 75 rushing yards only once. Has his performance been disappointing? What will it take for him to turn things around?
The beginning of Jeanty’s career was a struggle because the coaching staff decided to reshuffle the interior offensive line, and he was getting hit in the backfield consistently. For example, 101% of Jeanty’s rushing yards through the first three weeks of the season came after contact. Since then, the line has played much better — thanks in part to Jackson Powers-Johnson returning to the lineup at right guard after missing Week 2 with a concussion, and then winning a ridiculous “competition” for the starting job with free-agent signing Alex Cappa.
Also, the Boise State product has done a much better job of being patient and finding cutback lanes on zone runs, allowing him to run for 280 yards (4.8 yards per carry) over the last three games. Despite the slow start, he still leads all rookies with 424 rushing yards (averaging 4.0 yards per carry) on top of contributing 14 receptions for 73 receiving yards and two touchdowns. There are a lot of things wrong with the Raiders right now, but Jeanty is playing well enough that he’s probably the least of my concerns.
3. Chiefs-Raiders has been one of the NFL’s great rivalries. Does it still carry that same energy, or has Kansas City’s dominance under Patrick Mahomes dulled its intensity?
Make no mistake: Raider Nation still HATES the Chiefs. Kansas City could win every game for the next 20 years, and that hatred will still run through the veins of Raiders fans for generations to come. It’s just in our DNA!
But to your point, the Chiefs have dominated on the field since Mahomes took over, and the Raiders are 2-8 against the Chiefs since moving to Las Vegas in 2020. Also, Las Vegas hasn’t won a game against Kansas City at Allegiant Stadium yet. From that standpoint, the rivalry technically doesn’t mean much.
4. What would you identify as the Raiders’ biggest need right now?
It’s the age-old answer for the Raiders over the last 20-plus years: Quarterback.
Granted, the organization got plenty of good years from Derek Carr, but the end of Carr’s tenure got frustrating because he never blossomed into the top-tier quarterback that many hoped he’d be. That being said, the organization has had seven different QBs start since Carr was benched at the end of the 2022 campaign. Now, that includes Jarrett Stidham, who started the last two games of that year just to finish the season. Brian Hoyer and Desmond Ridder each made one start because of an injury.
However, Las Vegas has had a new Week 1 starter behind center every year since Carr left; Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew and Smith, while also giving Aidan O’Connell two chances to become the future of the franchise. None of them have panned out so far, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kenny Pickett becomes the eighth starter at some point this season with how bad Smith has played.
Geno was never viewed as the long-term answer, but the 35-year-old was supposed to be a bridge players who could buy the Raiders some time to find a young quarterback to develop. But that timeline will likely get accelerated. The organization might be forced into drafting a quarterback this April unless Smith shows significant improvement in the second half of the season.
5. What do the Raiders need to do to grab a win against the Chiefs?
The Raiders’ best chance at pulling off an upset is to follow the same formula as the 2023 Christmas Day game. Defensively, their best shot at stopping Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense is Maxx Crosby and the defensive line winning in the trenches like they did two years ago. Offensively, Las Vegas has to play ball control by feeding Jeanty and dialing up a lot of play-action passes. Kansas City does rank 19th in rushing yards allowed per game (119.2) and 26th in opponent yards per rush (4.8), so it’s possible. But that does require the defense to start the game strong so that the offense doesn’t have to play from behind.
