On Sunday, the Raiders will host the Chiefs in what might be the most anticipated regular season game the Raiders have played at Allegiant Stadium since they opened the stadium in 2020.
The winner of Sunday’s game will remain undefeated and be alone atop the AFC West, and for Raider fans who have been starving for meaningful games, this is the biggest Raider game since they made the playoffs in 2021.
After three weeks, the Chiefs look to be back to championship form and with Kenneth Walker III on the roster, they might have their most balanced offensive scheme since drafting Patrick Mahomes in 2017.
Walker was the AFC’s offensive player of the month for September, and no one is more familiar with Walker’s abilities than Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak.
Kubiak was Walker’s offensive coordinator in Seattle last year and based on a series of comments from flagship host ‘JT the Brick’, it sounds like slowing down Walker is going to be one of Kubiak’s top priorities on Sunday.
“I’ve been around that team a long time. That building is working hard to stop Kenneth Walker III. I’ll tell you that,” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show.
“Let me tell you what I heard today inside the building. I needed this for the show, and I don’t really reach out much. I said, compare Kenneth Walker III in his prime, which is right now, to anybody. And then the bubbles popped up… ‘Marshawn Lynch.’
I said, oh wow, that’s a good one. So and then he went on to say, not Emmitt Smith, not Earl Campbell, not Walter Payton, Marshawn Lynch. I said, ‘That’s good. I could use that on the show.’ Someone pretty high up told me that. This is like preparing for Marshawn Lynch in his prime.”
With Mahomes at quarterback, the Chiefs are always a nightmare to deal with, but it sounds like the starting point for the Raiders this week will be to take away an effective running game for Mahomes to lean on.
Slowing down Walker will be easier said than done… but based on JT’s comments, the Raiders are going to try to make someone other than Walker beat them on Sunday.
x: @raidersbeat