In advance of Sunday night’s Kansas City Chiefs-Las Vegas Raiders game, Chiefs Wire examines the matchup with fantasy football projections for Kansas City players courtesy of our colleagues at The Huddle.
Week 14 marks the second meeting of the season for these AFC West rivals. The Kansas City Chiefs won 41-14 at the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10. The Chiefs are on a five-game winning streak and have learned to win without an obscene number of points involved. The Raiders have been in a five-game tailspin, aside from Thanksgiving, when the offense mysteriously showed up, ate some turkey, and then went back to sleep. The best performance by the Chiefs offense was Week 10 at the Raiders, and playing them at Arrowhead Stadium should provide an equally convincing win.
The Chiefs offense roared back to life in the Week 10 defeat of the Raiders when quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a season-best showing. But the past two games — both at home — have been defensive battles that did not produce more than 31 combined points. This week is an interesting measurement. If the Chiefs win big again, they’ll have confidence that they can progress deep into the playoffs. If the offense struggles as it has in five of the past six games, there is not only a true problem, but the most talented offense in the league cannot figure out what the solution is.
Quarterback
It was a refreshing blowout (in a fantasy sense) when the Chiefs dominated the Raiders, and Mahomes passed for 406 yards and five touchdowns in Week 10. The other five games surrounding that monster showing totaled just two passing scores and marginal yardage. In recent wins over the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos, Mahomes never threw a touchdown but tossed an interception in each. A win is a win, and the improvement in the Chiefs defense is significant. But so is the top passing offense in the league that seems unable to find that higher gear.
Patrick Mahomes projection vs. Raiders
Fantasy Points: 29
Passing: 340 yds, 3 TDs
Running backs
Darrel Williams only ran for 43 yards on 11 carries but caught nine passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in Week 10. Clyde Edwards-Helaire came off injured reserve the following week and posted around 70 total yards for the past two weeks with a score when the Cowboys visited. Edwards-Helaire gets a dozen or so carries and a couple of catches, which is in line with what he did before the knee injury. Williams turns in five carries per game and a couple of catches and has lost his fantasy value as the smaller part of the backfield committee.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire projection vs. Raiders
Fantasy Points: 16
Rushing: 60 yds, 1 TD
Receiving: 2 rec, 20 yds
Darrel Williams projection vs. Raiders
Fantasy Points: 10
Rushing: 20 yds
Receiving: 4 rec, 40 yds
Wide receivers
Tyreek Hill (7-83, 2 TD) and Byron Pringle (4-46, TD) both scored in the previous meeting against the Raiders. Hill is consistently thrown double-digit targets each week, but he hasn’t broken 100 yards since Week 4 — and half of the past six matchups produced fewer than 50 yards with no scores. He’s still a must-start and ranks as the No. 3 fantasy wideout, but his production in the last meeting with the Raiders was his only score in the last month. No other wideout offers enough production or reliability for any fantasy consideration.
Tyreek Hill projection vs. Raiders
Fantasy Points: 24
Receiving: 8 rec, 100 yds, 1 TD
Byron Pringle projection vs. Raiders
Fantasy Points: 5
Receiving: 2 rec, 30 yds
Tight end
Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 119 yards in Week 10. That was a season high in yardage, and unlike Hill, he’s continued to score. But even Kelce was held to a season-worst three catches for 27 yards against the Broncos last week.
Travis Kelce projection vs. Raiders
Fantasy Points: 26
Receiving: 6 rec, 80 yds, 2 TDs
Match to defense
The Raiders have struggled in recent weeks, and it appears that all of their issues and losses have gutted their team. The Chiefs also have struggled, but they are still winning low-scoring defensive matchups. Week 10 was everything that we love about the fantasy prospects of the Chiefs. All of the other games surrounding that have been disappointments. Even if the Chiefs can replicate their success of Week 10, that only proves they match up well with the Broncos.