Chiefs’ keys to beating Raiders: Defense appears set for strong day in red zone

The Chiefs return to action after having the Thanksgiving holiday bye week. They’ll hit the road for their first meeting of the season with the division-rival Oakland Raiders. The Chiefs can get to 10 wins with a victory and stay squarely in the driver’s seat in the race to finish with the AFC’s best record.

Here are the keys to victory and a quick scouting report on the coaches/coordinators for the Raiders heading into this Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. game (CBS).

Keys to victory

1. Limit/eliminate turnovers

Coming off of the five-turnover game against the Rams, this one is obvious. The Chiefs need to take care of the football and allow their offensive firepower to apply constant pressure to the opposing defense to get stops and the opposing offense to keep pace. The last time the Chiefs played, the offense scored 51 points on the road despite their rash of turnovers.

2. Tighten up in red zone

The Raiders have struggled to score in the red zone this season (45.2 percent touchdowns scored), which makes this the ideal time for the Chiefs to pad their statistics. The Chiefs came into the week ranked 28th in red-zone touchdowns allowed (69.2 percent). Holding the Raiders to field goals instead of touchdowns would be a positive step.

3. Chase down Carr

The Raiders have allowed the sixth-most sacks of any NFL offense. With back-to-back AFC players of the month in Chris Jones and Dee Ford rested and Justin Houston back healthy, the Chiefs need to rattle Oakland QB Derek Carr. The fourth-year pro has thrown eight interceptions compared to 13 touchdowns this season. Last week against Baltimore, Carr completed just 16 of 34 passes for 194 yards and posted a quarterback rating of 74.9.

4. Stop that run

The Raiders have mounted effective rushing attacks in both of their wins this season. They rushed for 152 yards and 4.6 yards per carry in a two-point win over the Arizona Cardinals. They also rushed for 139 yards — 130 by Marshawn Lynch — in their most-productive offensive game of the season, a 45-42 win against the Cleveland Browns. Making the Raiders’ offense one-dimensional bodes well for the Chiefs. It also keeps the Raiders from controling the ball and the tempo of the game.

Scheme

Head coach

Jon Gruden returned to the sideline as a head coach for the first time since 2008. A coach who came up in the West Coast offense as an offensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers (1991) and Green Bay Packers (1992-94), he’s built his reputation as a developer of quarterbacks. He was the youngest head coach in the NFL when hired by Al Davis in 1998 for his first stint with the Raiders. His offenses utilize a high volume of personnel groups often using multiple tight ends and a fullback.

Offense

Offensive coordinator Greg Olson is in his second stint as offensive coordinator with the Raiders, his first coming in 2013 through 2014. That included quarterback Derek Carr’s rookie season of 2014. Olson’s coaching career also includes time as a quarterbacks coach with the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (under Gruden), Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams. He spent last season tutoring Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff. While the Rams have used predominantly one personnel group since last season (three wide receivers, one tight end, one running back), that has not carried over with Olson to the Raiders under Gruden.

Defense

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther came over from the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason. He’d spent three seasons as a member of the Bengals coaching staff, the previous four as coordinator. Guenther’s system, which mirrors that of the Minnesota Vikings under Mike Zimmer, features an aggressive base 4-3 one-gap scheme with linemen penetrating as opposed to anchoring in playing read-and-react. Guenther’s Bengals defense often walked two linebackers up to the line of scrimmage to disguise intentions, give the appearance of blitzing (it actually ranked the second-lowest percentage of the time in the NFL) and create one-on-one match-ups for defensive linemen.

Lynn Worthy

Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.

This story was originally published December 1, 2018 at 3:44 PM.