Raiders at Chiefs 2022 Week 5: Key matchups to watch
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders hit the road to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5 inside Arrowhead, and here are some key matchups to watch.
Prior to their bye week, the Las Vegas Raiders will hit the road in primetime, taking on the Kansas City Chiefs inside Arrowhead Stadium. The Silver and Black are fresh off their first victory of the 2022 season, a home win against the Denver Broncos, as they were finally able to piece together four solid quarters of football together.
Now, they face their yearly test on the road against the Chiefs, and here are some key matchups to keep an eye on in this AFC West battle.
Raiders at Chiefs 2022 Week 5: Key matchups to watch
Maxx Crosby vs Orlando Brown Jr.
The Las Vegas Raiders have one of the premier edge rushers in football in Maxx Crosby, a dominant force who can beat any offensive tackle in the game. On Monday night, he will be going up against an elite left tackle in Orlando Brown Jr., and this chess match could be a deciding factor in the outcome.
Patrick Mahomes is the premier signal-caller in football, and if the Raiders are going to win on Monday night, they need to make him very uncomfortable. Las Vegas may want to line Crosby up against right tackle Andrew Wylie to get a bit of a favorable matchup, especially with how bad Chandler Jones has been.
Chiefs secondary vs Davante Adams
There is no doubt that Davante Adams is one of the best wideouts in the game and someone that every defense has to gameplan for. Adams has been having a solid first season in the desert and was outstanding against Denver this past weekend, so look for the Raiders to continue to target him early and often on Monday night.
Kansas City has some talent in their defensive backfield, but it is definitely a secondary that Adams should have a lot of success against. With Hunter Renfrow back, there will be more bodies for them to cover, and if Adams can slip away, he could be in for a few big-time plays in this one.
Raiders RT vs Chiefs pass rush
The biggest question mark on this Raiders offense is the right tackle spot, and whether or not Jermaine Eluemunor or Thayer Munford Jr. are going to be able to stop this Chiefs pass rush. Kansas City has two capable edge rushers in Frank Clark and George Karlaftis, so while Kolton Miller will handle one fo them, will the other side be able to handle the other.
Keeping Derek Carr upright and comfortable in this game is going to be huge, as he has a tendency to get a bit jumpy when the pressure is on. This is either going to be a breakout game for the Raiders RTs or just another example of why the team should have spent money on the position group this offseason.