Oakland Raiders v Kansas City Chiefs: X-Factors To Keep An Eye On

The Oakland Raiders are in Kansas City to play arguably, the biggest game they’ve played in very nearly 15 years – here are a few x-factors to tonight’s game to keep an eye on.

You can’t understate the importance of this game for both, the Oakland Raider and the Kansas City Chiefs. The winner will likely win the AFC West with the possibility of earning a first round bye and a home playoff game looming large. For the Raiders, a win would help keep them atop the AFC with the possibility of home field throughout still in play.

So yeah, this game is – as seems to be the common parlance today – YUGE. Really, really yuge.

Oakland comes into the game riding a six game winning streak – and playing their fourth game in 17 days. The Chiefs come in having notched back to back wins over the Broncos and Falcons. And though a win will give the Raiders and Chiefs identical records, Kansas City will have swept Oakland, giving them the tiebreaker – essentially a one game lead in the division.

If that came to pass, with just three games to play, the Raiders – if they lost in Kansas City – would have to hope either the Titans, Broncos, or Chargers could knock off the Chiefs. And then they would have to handle their own business and win out.

But this is a winnable game for the Raiders. Kansas City is a steady, even-keeled team who doesn’t beat themselves with silly mistakes. They’re not flashy, they’re not exciting – but they win. They’re the NFL equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs – boring as all get out to watch, but put up results that are undeniable.

Kansas City has some definite chinks in their armor. They’re not unbeatable. Their defense is about on par with Oakland’s – although many of the talking heads don’t really mention that fact all that much. But for the season, the Chiefs have the league’s twenty-ninth ranked defense (eighteenth in passing, twenty-seventh against the run).

Kansas City’s defense is also riding a three game streak of giving up 400 plus yards per game (442 yards to Tampa Bay, 464 to Denver, and 418 to Atlanta).

It only feels right, at this point, to mention that the Raiders defense – supposedly, the most terrible unit in the league, according to some – limited Tampa Bay to 270 yards and Denver to 299 yards of total offense)

All of that to say, it’s not like the Chiefs are playing lights out defense. The Raiders will have their chances – it’s up to them to capitalize on them.

With all of that in mind then, let’s take a look at some x-factors in a game that is one of the most significant of the entire NFL regular season this year.