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

The Train Is Back And It’s Rolling

In their first meeting with the Chiefs, Oakland was without one of their biggest weapons – Latavius Murray. Many poo-poo his absence as irrelevant, saying that the Chiefs were so dominant that they would have won anyway.

Maybe. But maybe not. At least, tonight we’ll get a look at the impact Murray has on the Chiefs run defense and the Raiders offense as a whole.

As a unit, Murray, Jalen Richard, and DeAndre Washington worked incredibly well and gave the Raiders a top ten running attack. That helped open up the passing game, of course, and Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, and Michael Crabtree have taken full advantage of it, becoming the league’s fourth best passing game.

Live Feed

Bolt Beat

Murray’s value to this offense can’t be understated. Without him in the lineup, the Raiders struggled to move the ball. It was especially noticeable against the Chiefs when the Raiders managed just 64 yards on the ground and the offense as a whole was limited to just 285 yards and ten points overall.

Last week against Buffalo, Murray had 105 yards of total offense (82 rushing, 23 receiving) and had two scores. Richard chipped in with 53 yards on the ground, giving the Raiders their first 100 yard rushing game (139) in a couple of weeks.

And that effective running game was a big reason they were able to mount the sort of comeback against Buffalo that they did, turning a 15 point deficit into a 14 point win.

With Murray in the lineup and the backs as a unit running well, this is a different offense. A better offense. A lethal offense.

And with Kansas City coming in with the league’s twenty-seventh ranked run defense, Murray and Richard should get plenty of opportunities to keep the Chiefs on their heels – something they didn’t have in their first meeting. Which will benefit Carr and the offense as a whole.