Former NFL QB breaks down how Chiefs exploited Raiders’ hyperfocus on Travis Kelce
The stat line for Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in Monday night’s 30-29 win over the Raiders was ridiculous.
Seven catches, 25 yards receiving and four touchdowns. The previous low for fewest receiving yards in a four-touchdown game was 93 by Marvin Jones Jr. in 2019, as the NFL Network’s James Palmer reported.
But beyond Kelce’s nose for the end zone, he also helped create favorable matchups for the Chiefs receivers. ESPN’s Dan Orlovksy, the former NFL quarterback, broke down how the Raiders’ focus on Kelce helped the Chiefs.
“They went to Old Reliable and that’s putting Travis Kelce by himself and going if you’re gonna play him one-on-one, great,” Orlovsky said, ”and if you’re going to double-team him and potentially triple- team him, we got (a plan).”
While showing clips from the game, Orlovsky noted the Chiefs often lined up in a formation that had Kelce on one side of the line of scrimmage and three receivers (trips) on the other.
Despite the overload, Las Vegas made sure there was more than one defensive player on Kelce.
“Look at the attention that Travis Kelce gathers,” Orlovsky said. “He’s got two guys on him. We talked all offseason about no Tyreek Hill, one of you guys is going to have to win in man (man-to-man coverage).”
Orlovsky then showed how each of the three Chiefs receivers had just one Las Vegas defensive player on them: “You’re by yourself, you’re by yourself and you’re by yourself, true one on ones with absolutely no help.”
On that particular play, Marquez Valdes-Scantling broke free from a Raiders defender and caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes.
Although Orlovsky’s main point was that the Chiefs will be fine without Hill this season, it was an interesting look at how Kansas City exploited the Raiders’ hyperfocus on Kelce on Monday night.
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 11:09 AM.
