Preview and Prediction: Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs
By Austin Gayle
Carr to Target the Chiefs’ Second and Third Cornerbacks
Through the Raiders’ five games this season, third-year quarterback Derek Carr has successfully taken advantage of opposing defenses’ weaker defensive backs, oftentimes targeting the receiver with the better matchup.
Carr will play a similar card against Kansas City.
With Chiefs star cornerback Marcus Peters expected to lockdown the Raiders’ top receiver Michael Crabtree, Carr will look to target sophomore receiver Amari Cooper against Kansas City’s veteran cornerback Phillip Gaines, a PFF’s 99th ranked cornerback.
If Cooper can keep his feet in bounds on at least half of his routes, he should only add to Gaines’ already poor season.
At nickel cornerback, second-year corner Steven Nelson will take on Raiders slot receiver Seth Roberts. Yes, Roberts hasn’t pulled in a significant amount of targets this season, but he could return to the end zone with Nelson in coverage.
Roberts has brought in just 12 of his 22 targets for 105 yards, but he has managed to find the end zone three times, good for the second most on the team.
Nelson, PFF’s 71st ranked cornerback (65.5.) this season, has struggled due in large part to his lack of experience and size. At 5’11”, 194 pounds, Nelson, earning his fifth career start against Oakland, will face an uphill battle lining up against a bigger slot receiver like Roberts.