Las Vegas Raiders slump continues with embarrassing 48-9 loss to Chiefs
Another week, another loss as the Las Vegas Raiders were thoroughly outmatched by the Kansas City Chiefs, 48-9 at Arrowhead Stadium.
On the Las Vegas’ Raiders’ first play from scrimmage, Josh Jacobs rushed for a two-yard loss and a fumble, with Kansas City’s defense recovering for a 23-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a very early 7-0 lead.
That early blunder called ballgame for the Raiders, and in many ways, it was an omen for the rest of the afternoon (and perhaps the remainder of Las Vegas’ season).
The Raiders were thoroughly outmatched in every sense of the word against their AFC West rival, as Las Vegas simply could not muster anything positive in the first half. The Raiders’ first five offensive drives resulted in two turnovers and three punts as the Chiefs benefited from three takeaways through the first two quarters. With an advantageous field position, Kansas City took advantage of Las Vegas’ defense, quickly building a 35-3 dominating lead by halftime.
Even with two more quarters of football to play, this game was effectively decided by the time these two teams went into the locker room at the halfway mark. Kansas City swept Las Vegas with a 48-9 blowout win, as the Raiders turn their eyes towards next week as well as beyond with this season effectively in the books.
A Raiders 48-9 loss with potential major changes on the horizon
One of the (very few) bright spots for Las Vegas on Sunday was the opportunity to see both Divine Deablo and Malcolm Koonce get snaps on the field. The two 2021 third-round picks for the Raiders should get extra looks like Las Vegas winds down the season, and Deablo got the start in place of Denzel Perryman in nickel packages on Sunday. While Deablo can still improve in coverage, he seems to be making progress and recorded five solo tackles on Sunday.
Koonce has been solid over the past two weeks and recorded a sack for a loss of five yards (his second overall during that timespan). With the future in mind, Las Vegas would be wise to get him more playing time.
dark. Next. 2022 is NOT the year to move on from Derek Carr
The Raiders will look to refocus and turn their eyes to next week against the Cleveland Browns, though in reality, they will also have their sights set on the 2022 season, in which there will likely be more than a few significant changes made from the coaching staff to personnel. This embarrassing loss had all the makings of a season effectively over, the type of loss that precedes changes coming in the future.