Have the Raiders done enough to get past the Chiefs in 2019?
By Daniel Davis
The Oakland Raiders have revamped their roster this offseason, but was it enough to unseat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
The buzz around the Oakland Raiders offseason is still ablaze around the NFL. Acquiring two Pro-Bowl caliber players in a matter of weeks and adding 3 first round picks to bolster a struggling 2018 offensive campaign. Even with all the additions, can the Raiders bring down the AFC West champions of 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs?
On paper, the Chiefs are a powerhouse still (if Tyreek Hill plays). Last year Patrick Mahomes took the NFL by storm and threw 50 touchdowns in his first full year as the starter of the Chiefs and Tyreek “the Cheetah” Hill had another pro-bowl season.
Travis Kelce is arguably the best tight end in the game now that Rob Gronkowski has retired. However, the defense was a lot to be desired for last season finishing last in nearly every category – which is why the offense performed so well last year.
The Raiders, on the other hand, were nearly the polar opposite. They were in the bottom 10 in every offensive category, except passing yards at 18th in the league. The defense didn’t fair better while finishing the bottom half of every category, including 19th in passing yards allowed and dead last in points allowed at 29.2 points per game. Long story short – it’s only up from here.
Derek Carr only threw 19 touchdowns last year with an average at best receiver core. Jordy Nelson was supposed be the savior of the Raider offense, but after an ACL injury, being on the opposite side of 30 and coupling that with a non Aaron Rodgers quarterback, he had 739 yards on 63 receptions and a measly 3 touchdowns.
In my mind, Jalen Richard has the ability to be the MVP of the team in 2019. He had 68 receptions and 55 rushes for a combined roughly 900 yards – get that man some space and watch him go to work.
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The bottom line for Oakland this year is to improve the scoring on offense and prevent defensive screw ups. If the team focuses on these two things then I don’t see how they can’t topple the Chiefs and take control of the AFC West again.