PERSONNEL NEWS

Strategy And Personnel

The Sports Xchange

November 29, 2018 at 2:10 am.

PLAYER NOTES

–TE/WR Darren Waller signed with the Raiders off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad. Waller sat out last season under a league suspension and has been on Baltimore’s practice squad all season.

–C Rodney Hudson (ankle) was limited in Wednesday’s practice.

–CB Daryl Worley (shoulder) was limited in Wednesday’s practice.

–DE Frostee Rucker (neck) was limited in Wednesday’s practice.

–DE Arden Key (knee) was limited in Wednesday’s practice.

–DE Jacquies Smith, signed on Nov. 4, was placed on injured reserve (Achilles) and is out for the season.

–WR Johnny Holton, who played as a special teams gunner against Baltimore, was waived and ended up back on the Raiders’ practice squad.

–CB Arrion Springs was released from the practice squad.

GAME PLAN: The Raiders must do their best to keep the ball out of the hands of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who in his second season in the NFL out of Texas Tech has passed for 3,628 yards and 37 touchdowns, with only 10 interceptions. That means Oakland must run the ball effectively with Doug Martin and Jalen Richard, who have been effective since starting running back Marshawn Lynch went out for the season because of a groin injury. In addition, Derek Carr, who has passed for 2,827 yards but only 13 touchdowns, must keep the Chiefs’ defense off-balance with head coach Jon Gruden’s short passing game. Richard and tight end Jared Cook are the Raiders’ leading receivers this season. Carr has been sacked a career-high 35 times and the Oakland front line, with rookie tackles Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker, must keep Kansas City pass rushers Dee Ford and Chris Jones, who both have nine sacks, off him.

Mahomes probably is licking his chops over the prospect of facing the Oakland defense, which has only 10 sacks (four by rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst) and nine interceptions this season. Mahomes has been lighting up defenses by throwing to tight end Travis Kelce (67 receptions for 914 yards and seven touchdowns), and wide receivers Tyreek Hill (65-1106-11) and Sammy Watkins (40-519-3). Should Watkins be unavailable because of a foot injury, the Chiefs will turn to Chris Conley (22-223-4). If the Raiders sit back to defend against his dangerous receivers, Mahomes will simply turn to running back Kareem Hunt, who has 824 yards and seven touchdowns rushing, plus 26 catches for 326 yards and seven more scores.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: CB Gareon Conley. The Raiders thought they had a star in the making last year when they drafted Conley in the first round (No. 24 overall) out of Ohio State and prep powerhouse Massillon (Ohio) High, and after some trying times in the last two seasons, it’s starting to look like they might have been right. The 6-foot, 195-pound Conley missed most of his rookie season because of a nagging shin injury and struggled early this year in new coordinator Paul Guenther’s defense. After being benched after a few games, there was talk around the trade deadline that Conley was a bust and might be dealt away. However, the Raiders put him back in the starting lineup instead and Conley has been impressive at times. He has made two interceptions this season, including one against quarterback Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns that he returned 36 yards for a touchdown in one of Oakland’s two victories this season in Week 4. Conley also has a team-leading 10 passes defensed and 25 tackles.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH

–Raiders secondary vs. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. While they have shown growing pains, the Raiders also have gotten some solid play this season from CB Gareon Conley and Ss Karl Joseph and Marcus Gilchrist. Mahomes has picked apart some veteran secondaries with his throws to WRs Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins, and TE Travis Kelce, but he also has made a few mistakes recently. He has only 10 interceptions in 11 games, but has thrown at least one in six of his last seven games and the Raiders have to find a way to pick him off. Mahomes also is a threat to take off and run if no one is open, as he has rushed 42 times for 186 yards, a 4.4-yard average, and two touchdowns.

–Raiders front seven vs. Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt. Hunt rushed for more than 100 yards in both games against the Raiders last season, so the Chiefs obviously were confident they could run the ball against Oakland even before the Baltimore Ravens took over last week’s game against the Raiders on the ground. The Ravens ran the ball on 24 of 30 plays on their first two drives of the second half, pounding out touchdown drives of 75 and 71 yards to take control of the game. Ravens rookie RB Gus Edwards rushed for 118 of Baltimore’s 242 yards rushing in the game and the Raiders must keep Hunt, who has 824 yards and seven touchdowns this season, and the Chiefs from compiling similar numbers.