Fifteen minutes into this game and Raider Nation was out of their minds excited about this team. They dominated to hapless Broncos in the season opener and were up 10-0 on the mighty Chiefs. The last three quarters didn’t go as swimmingly as the first five.

With the first play of the second quarter, the Chiefs we all know showed up and they ran the Raiders into the locker room with a 28-10 half time lead. That would be the final score too as the Raiders were unable to score and the Chiefs knew it. That good feeling the Raiders and their fans had became a distant memory.

Ballers

Look who decided to join the party. At least in the three quarters the defense held up, the 2018 second round pick had probably his best game as a pro. In the first quarter, while the Raiders defense was keeping the Chiefs at bay, Hall was a part of that. On the Chiefs’ second possession, he had a QB hit that nearly resulted in an interception and two plays later burst into the backfield to cut off the running lane leading to a tackle for loss.

In the third quarter he had another tackle for loss, a pressure leading to yet another tackle for loss and shared a sack that led to a forced fumble. In short, he was a force on the line creating plays for the defense and helping hold the Chiefs running attack to 1.4 yards per carry.

Another pleasant surprise in this game. Not only did he lead the team in tackles (7) but three of those tackles were for a loss. On the Chiefs second scoring drive, Whitehead had a coverage incompletion and a tackle for a loss of four to put the Chiefs in third and 7. Obviously they picked it up, but that wasn’t Whitehead’s fault.

Whitehead’s one bad play in the game came on the Chiefs’ third scoring drive. He was beaten by Damien Williams to give up a 32-yard catch. Two plays later he stuffed LeSean McCoy on a run, but it wasn’t enough. They still found the end zone again. He would add two more run stuffs at the line in the second half, one for a loss.

In just 18 snaps, Mayowa would get in on two more sacks, sharing one with PJ Hall. On Mayowa’s second sack, he stripped the ball from Patrick Mahomes and the Raiders recovered. He also made a tackle on a short catch on third and 24. That’s 3.5 sacks for Mayowa which is second in the NFL.

The biggest play of the day for the Raiders was Jacobs’ 51-yard run. They needed it too. It came on the first Raiders offensive play of the third quarter with the team down by 18. He would add a 6-yard run on that drive as well to put the Raiders in first and goal at the 4-yard-line. Unfortunately they went away from him and Derek Carr threw an interception on the next play.

Jacobs would run for 99 yards on 12 carries before leaving with a groin injury. He had runs of 7 and 8 yards on the Raiders first scoring drive and began their second scoring drive with a 4-yard run.

Prior to his injury in the third quarter, Brown still dominating the right side of the Raiders offensive line. He didn’t give up any pressure on Carr and cleared the way on several runs as well. One of those clearouts was the 51-yard Jacobs run. You all better hope his knee injury isn’t serious enough for him to miss any time because the dropoff from him is significant to say the least.

Honorable Mention

Darren Waller – He led the team in receiving with 6 catches on 7 targets for 63 yards.