Raiders week 13 Ballers & Busters vs Chiefs

Through three quarters, the Raiders were putting a shock into the Chiefs. They had forced two turnovers after the Chiefs hadn't turned the ball over in five games, and led 20-14. Then came the fourth quarter and their fortunes did a complete about face.

That +2 advantage in turnover ratio turned to -1 with three interceptions and the lead turned into a two score deficit despite the Chiefs only running nine offensive plays. We were shown yet again that this Raiders team has a lot to learn about how to finish a game.

There are those who were a big part of the construction and those who contributed to the collapse.

Ballers

Khalil Mack

It's the Chiefs who were known for those pass rush, but the Raiders have a pretty dominant pass rusher of their own. His talents were on full display Sunday. After the Chiefs' first drive, they were held without a score the remainder of the first half. Two of their possessions in the second quarter were ended by Mack sacks. One he shared with Ben Heeney. Mack added another half sack on the Chiefs' first drive of the second half to give him 2.0 sacks in the game.

After the Raiders added a touchdown in the third quarter to go back up 20-14, Mack made two big plays on the ensuing series. He pressured Alex Smith into a short throw on second down and had a tackle for loss on a catch on third down to force a three-and-out. The next three Chiefs touchdowns came on a total of three offensive plays thanks to big interception returns. Not a whole lot he could do about that.

Mack led the Raiders with 8 tackles (5 solo) and added 2.0 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, and 3 QB hurries.

Charles Woodson

Not only did the Raiders stop the Chiefs' streak of games without a turnover, they forced two turnovers in the game. Woodson was part of both of them. The first fumble Woodson recovered and the second, he stripped right out of the hands of Travis Kelce and returned 38 yards. Had he not stripped the ball from Kelce, the Chiefs would have had first down in scoring position near the end of the first half. Instead, he put the Raiders in scoring position and they were able to get a touchdown out of it to take a 14-7 half time lead. That's turnover was at least a 10-point swing. He also finished second on the team with 5 tackles (4 solo).

It gave Woodson 7 turnovers on the season which is second behind only Reggie Nelson (8). Woodson is also tied for third in the NFL with 5 interceptions and currently leads all safeties in Pro Bowl votes.

Clive Walford

He was targeted five times and caught all five passes to lead the team with 53 receiving yards in the game. His first catch was a short one, but he broke a tackle and took it for ten yards and a first down to help set up the Raiders touchdown on their game opening drive.

Walford added a 16-yard catch on the Raiders next drive, and laid a key block on a 13-yard Jamize Olawale run on the third series.

In the third quarter, with the Chiefs having tied the game back up at 14-14, the Raiders went on a long scoring drive. Along the way, Walford reeled in a catch for 15 yards that put the offense in Chiefs' territory. He added a 13-yard catch on the Raiders' final possession.

Latavius Murray

A big first drive for Murray that saw him go 50 yards on 5 carries (10 yards per carry) and a touchdown, saw him finish the game with 15 carries for 36 yards (2.4 ypc) for a total of 20 carries for 86 yards (4.3 ypc) and a touchdown.  But it isn't simply a matter of Murray not performing as well the rest of the game. It's not that simple.

That first drive went 80 yards. Minus ten yards for a penalty, and you have 70 offensive yards; of which 50 were courtesy of Murray's running, including the 2-yard touchdown run at the end. A large portion of those yards were picked up on one run that went for 35 yards to put the Raiders in scoring position at the Chiefs' 29-yard-line. He also converted a third and one on that drive with a four-yard run. So, yeah, that drive was all Latavius.

In the third quarter, the Raiders went on another long touchdown drive. On that drive, they lined up in third down three times. The first two were converted on Murray 4-yard runs on third and short. The third was converted by a Chiefs roughing the passer penalty. Murray also had an 8-yard run on that drive which resulted in the last score for the Raiders in the game. Murray also had 4 catches for 11 yards.

Marquette King

He punted four times in the game. Three of those punts were downed inside the ten-yard-line. Two of those punts also had a Chiefs' penalty tacked on that started their drive inside the 5-yard-line. He was pinning the Chiefs in the shadow of their own end zone through the entire first half, which was a major reason they were unable to score again after their first drive - which started at the 44-yard-line after a kick return and a penalty. His fourth punt traveled 52 yards in the air, though it was returned 29 yards yards. He didn't punt in the second half.

Betweener

Michael Crabtree

He had a huge 25-yard touchdown catch to end the first half in which he was sandwiched by two defenders and held onto the ball. But he also had two drops in the game. The second drop came on the play just before Derek Carr's second interception of the game - a pass that appeared as if it may have been intended for Crabtree, but he fell down on his route.

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