Rupert
The Long Wind
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Week 11 Preview – Raiders @ Kansas City
November 16, 2003
By Rupert Pollard
Oakland is coming off of a tough loss that typifies their offensive struggles this season. Their opponents adjust to them and that’s it. Lights out. Their defense did a very good job until the fourth quarter, when they surrendered 10 points and the victory by being to slow to plug the hole Denver found. You can’t blame the defense as much as you can blame the offense. The story hasn’t changed the entire season though: poor execution, bad play calling, some players going through the motions, and a young QB still getting settled under center. Turnovers re-emerged from a two-week hiatus to seal a second half collapse and the loss.
Kansas City is coming off a fourth quarter push that wound up short in a defensive struggle with Miami. The normally explosive Larry Johnson was held to a mere human 75 yards, and Damon Huard was held to a mediocre 39.5 completion percentage for 201 yards. It doesn’t matter much since Trent Green was announced as this week’s starter, but will he be able to reignite their passing game against the league’s third best pass defense? It seems like a no-brainer that Larry Johnson will be able to find success against the league’s sixth worst run defense.
Offense
Starting up front, the Raiders found a little success on the line last week with Hulsey’s second week at left guard and Slaughter replacing Gallery at left tackle. Gallery practiced this week, so whispers of his “benching” might have been erroneous. Regardless, Kansas City’s front four aren’t a penetrating speed bunch as much as they are a power group. Jared Allen stood out with his ability to transform Damion McIntosh into a turnstile. Whoever is in at left tackle will have to deal with him. If Slaughter does what he did against Denver it could be a decent struggle. If Gallery goes back under fire it’s not likely to be pretty.
Kansas City’s linebackers are suffering a bit without Derrick Johnson. The group doesn’t appear to have a lot of speed, but they get the job done, and except for Keyaron Fox, who does have a touch of the quicks, they’re usually in the right place. Miami was able to gain 117 yards on these guys, but they did it the old fashioned grind-it-out way, which should suit the Raiders just fine.
KC’s defensive backs are a combination of experience and youthful backups. Ty Law and Patrick Surtain man the corners, and neither is the player they used to be. Surtain can still lock a man down, but Ty Law is showing signs of his age by getting grass stains coming out of some of his breaks. Raiders fans will recognize the symptoms of Terry McDaniel waking up old, Law is in the early stages. Their safeties are young and exuberant. They can be caught out of position, but they bring a lot of energy.
The Raiders offense will have to continue to mix it up to take advantage of the youth on KC’s defense. The counters they used against Denver should also work against the Chiefs’ defense as they were susceptible to them against Miami. Using safety and corner force they were able to turn most wide runs back inside to their pursuit, but that should make them vulnerable to play action and QB rolls, just don’t roll toward Allen too often unless he is chipped and the TE releases to the flat. Miami was also able to get decent yards on cutback runs. If the Raiders only send two receivers into the pattern, forget it, they’ll be doubled pretty effectively. It would be a good idea to take advantage of Kendrell Bell and the young backup safeties in coverage. Of course that would mean trusting both your pass protection and young quarterback. Not something the Raiders have done that often this season.
Defense
The Offensive Line for Kansas City is banged up and recovering from the off-season loss of their all-pro left tackle. This is not a good thing. Still they play well enough together to support the league’s 13th ranked rushing offense. This is in no small part due to the stellar talents of Larry Johnson, and his equally quick but less powerful understudy, Michael Bennett. The KC line plays a power brand of football, but the quickness of Miami gave them more than a little trouble last Sunday. The three middle linemen still put enough power into their game to spring their backs up the middle, especially if the linebackers over pursue. Both backs are used to reading the pursuit and cutting between the backside guard and tackle when that gap isn’t protected. Miami was often able to plug the playside gap but left the backside B gap open a little too often.
Kansas City’s receiving corps isn’t the fleetest of foot, but Kennison is a cagey veteran, and Parker will explode if you give him too little respect. Off the bench is the very dangerous Dante Hall. They are most effective when teams need to over-commit to covering now-injured tight end Tony Gonzalez. Jason Dunn came out of college as a pass-catching tight end but has transformed into mostly a blocking tight end. Kansas City isn’t afraid of emptying the backfield and Jason Dunn still has the ability to rumble for yardage when necessary.
Defending the run will require the Raiders stay disciplined on the backside. Of course trying to keep these young backers in gap responsibility might be a trick. With the absence of Gonzalez I expect Kansas City to use more three wide sets to open up the Raiders defense. Most offenses have been able to water down our run defense by taking a backer off the field. The Raiders can compensate by using Huff as the extra backer, but Seattle was able to exploit that by matching him up on the weak running side and making him cover their slot receiver, which he couldn’t do effectively in the rain. There’s little likelihood that he’ll be able to stay with Dante Hall if he couldn’t stay with D.J. Hackett.
Special Teams
Dante Hall is an ever-dangerous return man. While he’s most dangerous in punt returns and merely average in kick returns, he’s always a threat to go all the way. Colquitt is a decent punter and Tynes lacks a little range as a kicker, but they’re both solid specialists. When it comes to getting rid of the ball we have the advantage, and since we’re likely to do it often, we’re likely to have a bigger advantage. However, putting the ball in Hall’s hands more often exposes you to the impending explosion more often, and that’s where KC’s advantage is.
Final Gun
If either team is going to break it open, the obvious choice is Kansas City. Both teams would do well to use three receiver sets most frequently to open up the defense: in KC’s case to free up their running game, and in Oakland’s case to open up anything, something, and hopefully everything. While I expect it from the Chiefs, I’m not as convinced the Raiders will use it as often as they should.
I’m having trouble guessing how effective Green will be. The Raiders defense has proven capable of taking the ball away from turnover-prone quarterbacks this season, and Green could be that while he shakes off the rust from his concussion. The next question is who comes out under center for the Raiders. Walter had taken the interceptions out of his game, but threw two late-game fumbles onto his stat sheet last week. Add Walter’s post-game criticism of the game plan, his subsequent apology to the coaching staff, the fact that Brooks was cleared to play, and Art Shell’s nebulous comments about Brooks’s readiness and you have confusion stew. If the Raiders bring out the conservative game plan it won’t matter who’s under center, KC won’t need to adjust. If instead the Raiders use more three receiver sets, Brooks’s feet become an issue.
Given the Raiders’ confusing offensive decisions and KC’s aggressive offensive approach I think we see a Kansas City victory 24 to 16.
November 16, 2003
By Rupert Pollard
Oakland is coming off of a tough loss that typifies their offensive struggles this season. Their opponents adjust to them and that’s it. Lights out. Their defense did a very good job until the fourth quarter, when they surrendered 10 points and the victory by being to slow to plug the hole Denver found. You can’t blame the defense as much as you can blame the offense. The story hasn’t changed the entire season though: poor execution, bad play calling, some players going through the motions, and a young QB still getting settled under center. Turnovers re-emerged from a two-week hiatus to seal a second half collapse and the loss.
Kansas City is coming off a fourth quarter push that wound up short in a defensive struggle with Miami. The normally explosive Larry Johnson was held to a mere human 75 yards, and Damon Huard was held to a mediocre 39.5 completion percentage for 201 yards. It doesn’t matter much since Trent Green was announced as this week’s starter, but will he be able to reignite their passing game against the league’s third best pass defense? It seems like a no-brainer that Larry Johnson will be able to find success against the league’s sixth worst run defense.
Offense
Starting up front, the Raiders found a little success on the line last week with Hulsey’s second week at left guard and Slaughter replacing Gallery at left tackle. Gallery practiced this week, so whispers of his “benching” might have been erroneous. Regardless, Kansas City’s front four aren’t a penetrating speed bunch as much as they are a power group. Jared Allen stood out with his ability to transform Damion McIntosh into a turnstile. Whoever is in at left tackle will have to deal with him. If Slaughter does what he did against Denver it could be a decent struggle. If Gallery goes back under fire it’s not likely to be pretty.
Kansas City’s linebackers are suffering a bit without Derrick Johnson. The group doesn’t appear to have a lot of speed, but they get the job done, and except for Keyaron Fox, who does have a touch of the quicks, they’re usually in the right place. Miami was able to gain 117 yards on these guys, but they did it the old fashioned grind-it-out way, which should suit the Raiders just fine.
KC’s defensive backs are a combination of experience and youthful backups. Ty Law and Patrick Surtain man the corners, and neither is the player they used to be. Surtain can still lock a man down, but Ty Law is showing signs of his age by getting grass stains coming out of some of his breaks. Raiders fans will recognize the symptoms of Terry McDaniel waking up old, Law is in the early stages. Their safeties are young and exuberant. They can be caught out of position, but they bring a lot of energy.
The Raiders offense will have to continue to mix it up to take advantage of the youth on KC’s defense. The counters they used against Denver should also work against the Chiefs’ defense as they were susceptible to them against Miami. Using safety and corner force they were able to turn most wide runs back inside to their pursuit, but that should make them vulnerable to play action and QB rolls, just don’t roll toward Allen too often unless he is chipped and the TE releases to the flat. Miami was also able to get decent yards on cutback runs. If the Raiders only send two receivers into the pattern, forget it, they’ll be doubled pretty effectively. It would be a good idea to take advantage of Kendrell Bell and the young backup safeties in coverage. Of course that would mean trusting both your pass protection and young quarterback. Not something the Raiders have done that often this season.
Defense
The Offensive Line for Kansas City is banged up and recovering from the off-season loss of their all-pro left tackle. This is not a good thing. Still they play well enough together to support the league’s 13th ranked rushing offense. This is in no small part due to the stellar talents of Larry Johnson, and his equally quick but less powerful understudy, Michael Bennett. The KC line plays a power brand of football, but the quickness of Miami gave them more than a little trouble last Sunday. The three middle linemen still put enough power into their game to spring their backs up the middle, especially if the linebackers over pursue. Both backs are used to reading the pursuit and cutting between the backside guard and tackle when that gap isn’t protected. Miami was often able to plug the playside gap but left the backside B gap open a little too often.
Kansas City’s receiving corps isn’t the fleetest of foot, but Kennison is a cagey veteran, and Parker will explode if you give him too little respect. Off the bench is the very dangerous Dante Hall. They are most effective when teams need to over-commit to covering now-injured tight end Tony Gonzalez. Jason Dunn came out of college as a pass-catching tight end but has transformed into mostly a blocking tight end. Kansas City isn’t afraid of emptying the backfield and Jason Dunn still has the ability to rumble for yardage when necessary.
Defending the run will require the Raiders stay disciplined on the backside. Of course trying to keep these young backers in gap responsibility might be a trick. With the absence of Gonzalez I expect Kansas City to use more three wide sets to open up the Raiders defense. Most offenses have been able to water down our run defense by taking a backer off the field. The Raiders can compensate by using Huff as the extra backer, but Seattle was able to exploit that by matching him up on the weak running side and making him cover their slot receiver, which he couldn’t do effectively in the rain. There’s little likelihood that he’ll be able to stay with Dante Hall if he couldn’t stay with D.J. Hackett.
Special Teams
Dante Hall is an ever-dangerous return man. While he’s most dangerous in punt returns and merely average in kick returns, he’s always a threat to go all the way. Colquitt is a decent punter and Tynes lacks a little range as a kicker, but they’re both solid specialists. When it comes to getting rid of the ball we have the advantage, and since we’re likely to do it often, we’re likely to have a bigger advantage. However, putting the ball in Hall’s hands more often exposes you to the impending explosion more often, and that’s where KC’s advantage is.
Final Gun
If either team is going to break it open, the obvious choice is Kansas City. Both teams would do well to use three receiver sets most frequently to open up the defense: in KC’s case to free up their running game, and in Oakland’s case to open up anything, something, and hopefully everything. While I expect it from the Chiefs, I’m not as convinced the Raiders will use it as often as they should.
I’m having trouble guessing how effective Green will be. The Raiders defense has proven capable of taking the ball away from turnover-prone quarterbacks this season, and Green could be that while he shakes off the rust from his concussion. The next question is who comes out under center for the Raiders. Walter had taken the interceptions out of his game, but threw two late-game fumbles onto his stat sheet last week. Add Walter’s post-game criticism of the game plan, his subsequent apology to the coaching staff, the fact that Brooks was cleared to play, and Art Shell’s nebulous comments about Brooks’s readiness and you have confusion stew. If the Raiders bring out the conservative game plan it won’t matter who’s under center, KC won’t need to adjust. If instead the Raiders use more three receiver sets, Brooks’s feet become an issue.
Given the Raiders’ confusing offensive decisions and KC’s aggressive offensive approach I think we see a Kansas City victory 24 to 16.
