In a copycat league, here’s what Raiders’ big win means for Las Vegas and the Chiefs

I don’t know how many people actually gave the Raiders a chance to go into Arrowhead Stadium and beat the Chiefs.

Derek Carr had never won there and Jon Gruden hadn’t beaten Andy Reid since he returned to coaching. The Chiefs had won 13 games in a row including their Super Bowl run last season, and three of four this season had been by two touchdowns or more.

But the Raiders proved taking risks can lead to rewards in a matchup with Patrick Mahomes and a defense that likes to gamble and take some chances. To beat the Chiefs a team has to be aggressive on both sides of the football. It has to do some things that might get them beat, but could also result in a win that can turn a season around or catapult a team forward.

They provided the rest of the league a blueprint to beating the Chiefs. In a copycat league, teams are going to see they have an offense that can keep up and be able to make one more play than Mahomes and a defense that can execute its plan.

There are very few teams that can do that. The Patriots, if they can get Cam Newton back, maybe they can control the clock a little more. The Titans can maybe do something like that. The AFC, it’s going to be interesting how this sets up this season.

Kansas City could put up 40 and rip off a bunch of wins again.

Matching the Chiefs’ aggressiveness

But the Raiders, clearly, knew they had to be aggressive. They wanted to challenge the Chiefs down the field. The last interception Derek had thrown was against the Chiefs last year and it was on a play on third down where they were sitting flat at the sticks and they were being overly aggressive – a good Steve Spagnuolo-coached defense is always going to do that and take chances.

I remember watching Gruden on the sideline after Derek threw that interception last year, saying, “We’re never going to do that again.”

They made a conscious effort to push the ball down the field and it worked out because Henry Ruggs III was back and Nelson Agholor has turned out to be the best free-agent signing the Raiders have had in awhile.

Ruggs, running another third down with Spagnuolo and his defense sitting really flat and trying to jump routes at the sticks, hit another big play.

Darren Waller had a big play on a third down.

You have to match their aggression, and you have to be smart and know where your completions are. On the play to Hunter Renfrow on the third-and-18, Derek had Josh Jacobs open, he had Darren Waller open and he had Agholor on the sideline. He had three players open short of the sticks and could easily have dumped it down, but he saw what he wanted and he needed to buy time for Renfrow to get there. It’s third-and-18 and the Chiefs were in a full pass rush mode. That’s a risk.

If they don’t make the fourth-and-1 sneak from the Chiefs 45 coming out of the 2-minute warning, it’s Kansas City’s ball, an 8-point game. That’s a risk.

All of these plays and all these shots were because of that mindset – going in there and being aggressive – and it paid off. They were able to run the ball effectively. They still completed a high percentage of passes, which they always do. But it’s amazing what can happen when you mix in four deep balls. It can change the entire culture of a game.

Adjustments show up in third quarter

When you look at it from the Chiefs’ standpoint and what to do on defense to slow them down, in the first half they mixed coverage really well and it’s widely known now that Kansas City can struggle in the second half. It has scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, and with an average of 3.4 points is ranked down there between 0-5 Atlanta and 1-3-1 Philadelphia. They’re 24th in the league, ninth from the bottom.

There have been some interesting game plan changes from the defenses that have had success against them in the second half.

The Chargers did a great job and went to overtime with a rookie quarterback, but just didn’t have enough juice, enough experience on the offensive side to get it done. The Patriots had Brian Hoyer, who had a bad couple of series in the red zone. They should have had the lead at halftime, and easily could have won that game.

The term “blueprint” is maybe overused, but in this case it’s relevant. It’s a real thing, because that’s how the NFL works. If a team shows it has a weakness somewhere, everyone is going to test it until it’s fixed.

The Raiders showed up with a veteran defensive coordinator who can get guys in the right places. Then, on the offensive side, the Chiefs ran into a team that had the weaponry and could keep up, so if that defense gets a pick, gets a stop, gets them to punt a couple of times they have more and more chances and that’s what you need in a game like that.

Chasing the Indy ‘D’ in fantasy

The Colts struggled against Cleveland without Darius Leonard, who was out with an injury, but they’re in a good bounce back spot at home against the Bengals. Cincinnati obviously is having trouble protecting Joe Burrow and Indy, which still is leading the NFL in total defense, should get chances to rack up sacks and force some turnovers. Burrow has been sacked 22 times already, seven last week in a loss at Baltimore. The Colts also are at home where they have five sacks and six interceptions in two games.