Chiefs-Raiders halftime analysis: What became of KC’s pass defense? All tied thus far
So much for having one of the NFL’s top pass defenses.
The Chiefs entered Sunday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium with the NFL’s No. 3 unit in that category, yielding 195 yards per game. The Las Vegas Raiders and Derek Carr had that and more by halftime.
Carr threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the Raiders and Chiefs were deadlocked 24-24 at halftime.
Raiders receivers ran free in the secondary as Carr threw touchdown bombs to Nelson Agholor for 59 yards and rookie Henry Ruggs III.
The Raiders had trailed 21-10. Ruggs’ touchdown put them ahead 24-21 and the Chiefs had surrendered a season-high point total for a game.
The Raiders get the ball to open the second half.
Chiefs’ offense in gear
The Chiefs didn’t score on their first possession, then got touchdowns on their next three possessions.
The Chiefs’ touchdown drives went for 88, 28 and 75 yards, and Patrick Mahomes did a bit of everything.
His 3-yard sprint to the pylon beat the defense and was Mahomes’ second rushing touchdown of the season.
The Chiefs’ took advantage of the only turnover of the first half, Bashaud Breeland’s pick of Derek Carr, and capped a short-field touchdown drive with Tyreek Hill’s 10-yard touchdown run on an end-around. Travis Kelce and Nick Keizer came up with key blocks for Hill, who has a touchdown in all five games this season.
Mahomes kept a third-and-goal play alive with his nifty footwork and found Sammy Watkins, who was hurt later in the half, in the end zone. Mahomes now has a touchdown pass in 15 straight games, matching the Chiefs record set by Elvis Grbac.
But penalties wiped out two Chiefs’ touchdown passes, on their first and final possessions of the half.
Breeland celebrates return
Derek Carr entered the game without an interception this season. His previous pick came against the Chiefs in Week 13 last year.
That streak ended late in the first quarter when Bashaud Breeland, making his first start after serving a four-game NFL suspension to open the season, was in perfect position to corral Carr’s overthrow of Darren Waller.
The pick was the 14th of Carr’s career against the Chiefs. He has 49 interceptions combined against the 31 other NFL teams.
That’s two straight games with an interception for Breeland. He got one in last season’s Super Bowl.
But Carr had an otherwise terrific half.
Keleche Osemele’s rough day ends quickly
Tough first series for offensive guard Kelechi Osemele.
On the game’s third snap, Mahomes’ 58-yard strike to Hill for a would-be touchdown didn’t count because Osemele was flagged for holding. He entered the game leading the Chiefs in penalties. This was his fifth, and third holding call, of the season.
More seriously, and later in the possession, Osemele was hustling to make a block for Mahomes, who had scrambled out of the pocket, when he suffered a non-contact injury to his left leg.
He was carted off the field. Mike Remmers took Osemele’s spot.
That spiral to Hill, the TD throw that didn’t count, was still spectacular. The ball traveled nearly 65 yards in the air and Hill came down with the grab despite being blanketed in double-coverage.
On Twitter, Mahomes’ Texas-based personal trainer, Bobby Stroupe, called it “his best throw of the year ... 70 yards in the air on a dime.
This story was originally published October 11, 2020 at 1:50 PM.