Raiders might have their own tricks in attempt to slow Chiefs

There is simply a gathering communicative that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ discourtesy has been figured out, with the roots of the storyline being traced to the 2021 Super Bowl.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers antiaircraft coordinator Todd Bowles employed a two-deep ammunition that constricted the Chiefs’ big-play quality and challenged them to trust connected abbreviated passes and the moving crippled to determination the ball.

It worked to perfection, with the Buccaneers allowing nary touchdowns successful a 31-9 victory, and successful a copycat league, the Chiefs are seeing that blueprint utilized against them this season.

Bowles wasn’t the archetypal to effort the method. Mahomes saw a two-high look connected a career-high 55.7 percent of his dropbacks past play according to Pro Football Focus.

That fig is up to 80.8 percent this season.

The results haven’t been large for the two-time defending AFC champions with the high-powered offense. The Chiefs are averaging 24.6 points, 15th successful the NFL, but lone 12.0 successful their past 3 games.

Raiders antiaircraft coordinator Gus Bradley and his portion volition get their ace astatine slowing Kansas City erstwhile they conscionable successful a prime-time crippled Sunday nighttime astatine Allegiant Stadium.

But the Chiefs should spot immoderate antithetic looks.

The Raiders’ basal look is simply a screen 3, and Bradley’s strategy was up of the curve successful slowing Mahomes and the Chiefs.

As the antiaircraft coordinator for the Chargers, Bradley constricted Mahomes to 6.8 yards per effort arsenic compared with the 8.4 helium has posted against the Raiders.

Bradley evidently is alert of the occurrence different teams person had successful neutralizing Kansas City this season, but helium isn’t astir to overhaul a strategy that has worked good passim his career. It mightiness get mixed in, though.

“On the breakdowns, you ticker a batch of teams and spot however they effort to onslaught them and what works for them and what causes them difficulties … and past you besides incorporated successful what you do,” Bradley said.

There is 1 facet of the crippled plans that person been moving against the Chiefs that falls successful enactment with however the Raiders similar to play defense.

Coordinators person each but abandoned the blitz against Mahomes, preferring to make unit with the beforehand 4 and allowing other defenders successful coverage.

That’s however the Raiders attack astir games, truthful plentifulness of work volition autumn connected the shoulders of standout antiaircraft ends Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue.

Crosby has been the second-highest-graded borderline rusher successful the league, according to PFF, and Ngakoue has 2 sacks successful 3 of the past 4 games.

Their occurrence has been a radical effort with the extent connected the edge, improved sum and the space-eaters successful the interior of the enactment helping make the unit from Crosby and Ngakoue.

“(Defensive enactment manager Rod) Marinelli ever talks astir 4 equals one, and they’ve got to enactment together,” Bradley said. “If idiosyncratic is getting immoderate sacks, it’s astir apt due to the fact that a batch of the different guys are doing immoderate things right, too.”

That volition person to beryllium the lawsuit against the Chiefs, who haven’t been wholly unopen down connected offense.

They fertile seventh successful full yards and sixth successful passing, but aren’t generating the large plays that made them specified an explosive radical since Mahomes took implicit astatine quarterback.

Much of that tin beryllium attributed to the antiaircraft looks. The two-deep ammunition challenges offenses to tally the shot and enactment unneurotic a drawstring of abbreviated passes. It besides enables secondaries to bracket the Chiefs’ biggest weapons, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and choky extremity Travis Kelce.

Kansas City has played close into the tactics, moving the shot astatine a little complaint than immoderate different squad successful the league. And Mahomes has continued to effort to unit the shot downfield alternatively of taking the underneath throws.

Contact Adam Hill astatine ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ connected Twitter.