Silver And Black Pride
Six punts for 283 yards with a long of 63 yards. And 30 plays for 95 total yards with a long of 14 yards.
The first set of numbers above are punter AJ Cole III’s stat line. The second, the Las Vegas Raiders offense’s output in a 31-0 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon. Cole, who is earning $4.9 million this season is most definitely earning his keep. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who is earning an average of $6 million per season as play caller, is not.
And watching Cole generate more yards than Kelly’s group in a deflating AFC West loss is but just Exhibit A of the levels of ineptitude the Raiders are reaching in the Pete Carroll era.
“This was a game I didn’t see coming,” Carroll said after the lopsided defeat.
Suffice it to say, a lot of folks likely didn’t see rookie running back Ashton Jeanty — who had shown improved play and signs he can shoulder much of the team’s offense — having the exact number of carries that Cole had in terms of punts: Six. Jeanty finished with six totes for 21 yards (a paltry 3.5 yards per carry average) and a long of eight yards.
Without wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and tight end Brock Bowers — arguably the two top pass catchers in Las Vegas’ arsenal — the Raiders inexplicably abandoned the run early and by the time the team went back to the ground, they were already trailing 14-0 as the Chiefs did whatever they wanted on offense.
“We came into this game really wanting to run the football figuring that would be a key element of this game but we just couldn’t get there,” Carroll explained. “We just couldn’t get in charge of the down and distance enough.”
Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is an accomplished play caller and the expectation was he’d throw an array of looks at Las Vegas offense. And while he did, the Raiders’ inability to have cohesion in both play calls and player execution was just too much for the Silver & Black to overcome. At the end of the game, Las Vegas managed only e three total first downs.
Flip the coin and Chiefs head coach and play caller Andy Reid had his way with Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Reid’s offense racked up 434 yards on 77 plays — 282 yards through the air and 152 yards on the ground. Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and Co. made a mockery of Las Vegas’ zone-based defense just surgically slicing it up to the point where it looked like an 11-on-11 session in practice.
And it’s these kind of embarrassing outings that have forced Raiders’ owner Mark Davis’ hand on coaching changes.
Does that happen again this early into the Carroll era?
Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as Chiefs outclassed the Raiders:
—Raiders quarterback Geno Smith didn’t throw an interception, but didn’t throw a touchdown either. He finished 10...
