Chiefs’ defense gets high marks for dominating performance against Raiders
The Chiefs wrapped up their third consecutive AFC West championship as well as the top seed in the conference, and assured that the road to the Super Bowl will run through Arrowhead Stadium, with a 35-3 domination of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
Player of the game: Patrick Mahomes surpassed 5,000 yards passing and reached 50 touchdown passes this season with a 281-yard day that included touchdown throws of 67 and 89 yards.
Reason to hope: The Chiefs needed to win in order to control their postseason situation. A loss would’ve put their seeding and homefield advantage in limbo based upon the results of other games. With that backdrop, the Chiefs came through and routed a division foe to earn a bye into the playoffs.
Reason to mope: All-Pro safety Eric Berry was inactive along with running back Spencer Ware and wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
Looking ahead: The Chiefs secured the top seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye. They’ll have next weekend off as they wait to see who will come to Arrowhead Stadium following next weekend’s playoff games. They’ll host the lowest remaining seed.
Report card
Rushing offense: C. The ground game proved largely non-existent through the first three quarters as the offense leaned on the passing game. The Chiefs totaled 19 first-half rushing yards and an average of 2.1 yards per carry. They got up to 49 rushing yards by the end of the third thanks to a flurry of runs late in the quarter. They registered 99 rushing yards for the game with an average of 3.7 per carry and a pair of rushing touchdowns. Damien Williams and Darrel Williams combined for 82 rushing yards on 22 carries (11 apiece).
Passing offense: B. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t enjoy as efficient a passing day as he had many times this season. Receivers contributed to that with several drops, but he also tossed an interception late in the half on an underthrown ball. He still managed to throw for 281 yards on 14 of 24 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. The Chiefs hit two big pass play of 67 and 89 yards, which accounted for most of the damage.
Rushing defense: B+. Doug Martin reached the 100-yard mark and the Raiders averaged 4.4 yards per carry. However, the Chiefs didn’t allow a rushing touchdown, and they did not give up explosive runs. The longest rush of the game by the Raiders went for 15 yards, and they totaled just 127 yards on the ground.
Passing defense: A. The Chiefs intercepted two passes, returned one for a touchdown and recorded a strip-sack — all in the first half. They also didn’t allow a completion of more than 13 yards in the entire game. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr finished with 185 passing yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of 60.8. The Chiefs sacked Carr three times.
Special teams: C. The first half featured penalties against the Chiefs on both kick and punt returns. A pair of taunting penalties put the kickoff team in spots where field position was not on their side, and their counterparts knew they’d have a chance to set up a return. Oakland averaged 30.3 yards per kick return. The Chiefs only punted once, and it was fair-caught inside the 20-yard line. Their lone punt return went for three yards, while their only kick return went for 26 yards. There were no noticeable issues with the field goal/PAT unit.
Coaching: A. The Chiefs controlled the game from start to finish after Oakland fought them in a game decided by a one-touchdown margin of victory in the Bay Area earlier in the month. Defensively, the Chiefs stifled an offense and a quarterback that had played well of late. They did so despite injuries at the safety position coming into and during the game. Offensively, the Chiefs got key players such as Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce involved early and also took advantage of big-play opportunities. They limited penalties to four.
This story was originally published December 30, 2018 at 7:42 PM.
