KC Chiefs’ O-line holds its own against talented Raiders defensive line in 41-14 win
The Chiefs entered Sunday night’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders with concerns at right tackle.
Mike Remmers went on injured reserve over the weekend and Lucas Niang was ruled out with an injury to his ribs. The duo’s absence meant that veteran Andrew Wylie would have the unenviable task of holding down fellow Eastern Michigan product Maxx Crosby, who entered the game with five sacks.
Crosby had his moments against Wylie, with spin moves to get in the backfield and record two quarterback hits. But the Raiders’ pass rusher didn’t sack quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to 41-14 win.
“They got after each other,” Reid said of the battle between Wylie and Crosby. “I mean, that was kind of fun to watch and the effort was intense there on both guys. Crosby, he’s a good football player.”
While Wylie held his own on the right side, the left side was on lockdown. Orlando Brown Jr. made Raiders defensive end Yannick Ngakoue an afterthought. So much so that Ngakoue, who entered Week 10 with a team-high sacks, didn’t record a statistic in the box score.
The protection up front against a formidable pass-rush duo helped Mahomes throw for 406 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions en route to a 127.6 passer rating. That snapped a streak of five straight games with less than a 91.0 rating.
The Chiefs were also able to give Mahomes time to produce six of the team’s seven explosive plays of 20 or more yards down the field. Two of the six resulted in touchdowns: a 38-yard pass to running back Darrel Williams and a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Byron Pringle.
Mahomes had time to find wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who finished with seven catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns, and tight end Travis Kelce, who had eight catches for 119 yards.
“Shout-out to the guys up front protecting him the whole night so I could go do my thing downfield,” Hill said.
Games are won and lost in the trenches, and on this night, the Chiefs held the advantage.
