Despite looking like the better team for 55 minutes of this game, things got away from them at the end, with the Chiefs scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and two on consecutive plays inside five minutes. Overall the Raiders still felt good about what they did in the game. But not everyone should. This part is about those guys.
Busters
T Kolton Miller
This is the worst game I've seen Miller play in a while. I mean, granted, he was injury most of last season, but still. Things began to fall apart in the second quarter. The Raiders were driving and were in field goal range. Then Miller was driven so far into the backfield, it disrupted an end around pitch play, leading to a five-yard loss. A couple plays later, he was standing there blocking no one as George
Karlaftis ran right by him to blow up Mike Washington for another five-yard loss. And that killed that drive.
The next possession, Miller got beaten again to give up a run stuff, then a QB hit on an incompletion, and another QB hit on third and long. It was only because of a KC holding penalty that they were able to overcome it and get a field goal out of it. But with the Raiders getting the ball first to start the third quarter, they went for it on fourth and two and Miller gave up the pressure and the hit on Kirk Cousins that led to the incompletion to end the drive with no points.
He gave up two more QB hits in the game, one killed a drive, and the other might have if not for the Chiefs been flagging for unnecessary roughness.
G Caleb Rogers
Rogers was filling in for the injured Jackson Powers-Johnson. And it became apparent why JPJ won the job out of camp. In fact, it made me wonder how he was such a contender for the job throughout camp. The first half didn't see him make any big mistakes, but also didn't have him paving the way to open up any running lanes either. Come the second half, the wheels began to fall off.
On a drive late in the third quarter, Rogers gave up a run stuff for a loss. A few plays later, in third and five, he was beaten to give up a QB hit to force an incompletion to end the drive. The Chiefs would score a touchdown to take the lead on the next drive.
The Raiders were able to go on a couple drives for field goals, but along the way Rogers gave up two more run stuffs for no gain. And on the final drive, with the Raiders at their own nine-yard-line, needing to go another 50 yards in under a minute, he was flagged for a false start on third and short to back them up to inside the five again and make the conversion that much more difficult. Rogers obviously did not put himself in position to take the starting right guard job.
WR Dareke Young
This game was lost in an instant. That instant was late in the fourth quarter with the Raiders down 23-19 and Young took the kickoff and had the ball punched out to give the Chiefs the ball right back. The result was the Chiefs scoring on consecutive plays and in a matter of seconds the Raiders went from having a two-point lead to being down 11 with three minutes left. In the end, it was just too much to overcome.
DE Kwity Paye
Every week a different Raiders defensive lineman just seems to disappear. So, I guess if was Paye's turn or something. The big free agent acquisition didn't record a single stat in the game. This despite seeing 35 snaps (58%). But he was sure out there to watch Chiefs players run by him plenty.
On their first TD drive, he was blocked back to give up a five-yard run in first and goal at the seven. They scored two plays later. The next drive, Kenneth Walker had an incredible 21-yard run in which he forced six missed tackles by my count. Paye was the first line of defense and he whiffed. A couple more missed tackles and there was Paye trying to chase it down only to miss the tackle again. It was almost comical.
Off the fumble in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs scored in once play. With Paye giving up the right edge to allow Walker to run for the 22-yard score. Again, no stats of any kind in 35 snaps.
FB Connor Heyward
Outside of being the guy with the ball on the tush push play, Heyward didn't do much in this game but disappoint. His biggest play of the game might have been his biggest disappointment. He got the dump pass out left and looked like he would have the first down. But he chose to try and go at LB Drew Tranquill head on like two rams competing for dominance. And also like that, it was like hitting a wall. All he had to do was attempt to NOT ram the Tranquill head on and he would have very likely been able to drive for that extra yard. Instead, he was stopped shy of the sticks. A loss on the next play and an incompletion on third down led to a punt.
The next drive the Raiders got a nine-yard play on first down and Heyward was flagged for a false start on the next play. Two plays later, in third and short, Heyward didn't lay a block on the play, causing Ashton Jeanty to be stopped for no gain. I have the words from the guy in Office Space "What is it ya do here?" running in my head.
S Treydan Stukes, CB Hezekiah Masses
The rookies got some hazing by Patrick Mahomes and company in this one. Masses gave up the first touchdown catch from two yards out. Then he and Stukes both missed tackles on Walker's 21-yard run on the next drive. Though, to their credit they also had solid coverage later in that drive to limit the damage.
The next drive, Masses gave up a 10-yard catch and then was burnt for a 42-yard grab and they got a game tying field goal out of it. Stukes gave up the Chiefs next touchdown from eight yards out. Then gave up the 55-yard catch to Tyquan Thornton and they scored the touchdown on the next play to go up 23-19.
STC Joe DeCamillis
Special teams was a disaster in this game. And it became a deciding factor. Starting with trying to drop three Raiders players back to help with blocking on the opening punt, leading to a first down off the fake. Then a delay of game on a punt at the end of the first quarter. A big return to near midfield in the third quarter.
The touchback in the fourth quarter on the kickoff right after taking a one-point lead gave the Chiefs the ball at their own 35 to start their drive and they scored the touchdown in four plays. The fumble on the ensuring kick return basically lost the game for the Raiders. And then Dylan Laube being told that if the ball is set to land inside the ten, he is to let it go, leading to the ball being downed at the one on the Raiders crucial drive to try and tie it up in the final seconds.
See the Raiders Ballers vs the Chiefs
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Busters for Raiders Week 4 vs Chiefs
