The Kansas City Chiefs have lost 3 games in a row and have only scored 19 points in their last two games. The Oakland Raiders have lost 7 games in a row and have been shutout twice during that streak.
Look for Coach Edwards to be ultra-conservative with the offense this week and just hand the rock to Larry Johnson (1,516 yards rushing) as often as possible. The Raiders defense has been poor against the run as they allow 134.1 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry so far this season. After the Chiefs establish the run, look for Trent Green to run some play-action passes and try to get the ball to Tony Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison. Also, look for maybe a deep pass or two to Samie Parker or Dante Hall.
The Raiders always seem to want to run the ball, but they never stick to it. The Chiefs run defense is allowing 121.6 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry so far this season, so Justin Fargas could find some running room. It’s important that the Raiders at least have the threat of the run to slow the opposing pass rush down. The Raiders have allowed 66 sacks so far this season which has killed the offense many a time. Aaron Brooks is starting this game, but Andrew Walter finished last week so Brooks is probably on a short leash. Ronald Curry has been stepping up lately so the Chiefs will have to watch him.
The first time these two teams met, the Chiefs won a nail-biter at Arrowhead 17-13…so they better take this game seriously. I think they will and they should win this game by a decent margin as Larry Johnson could have a monster game.
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