Raiders prepare to face Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes after strong pass rush against Titans

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Raiders went after Titans quarterback Cam Ward in just about every way on Sunday, pressuring him on more than a third of drop-backs in the 20-10 victory.

But that was Tennessee.

Getting to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes is a whole different conversation.

“He’s as good as you can get,” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said. “He really is. He’s a fantastic football player, creative and innovative and tough, and he’s running like crazy this year, which really just makes him a bigger threat. So this is as hard as it gets.”

The Raiders will get their chance to see what they can do about defending the three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback when they visit the AFC West rival Chiefs on Sunday.

Mahomes has been sacked on 4.5% of drop-backs this season. Ward, by contrast, has been dropped 11% of the time.

As Carroll pointed out, Mahomes has made more plays with his legs this season. He has rushed for 222 yards, on pace to blow past his personal high of 389 yards set two years ago.

“I just think you’ve got to be disciplined, very gap sound, coverage sound,” Raiders linebacker Devin White said. “Know who you’re working with. Know where your help’s at. Know what leverage you’re playing with.”

The pass rush, until last weekend, had been a problem for Las Vegas. The Raiders had just eight sacks through the first five games.

Then they took the field against the Titans, who are used to seeing Ward scrambling to try to make plays. The Raiders pressured him a season-high 36.4% of drop-backs, according to Next Gen Stats, getting to the No. 1 pick from this year’s NFL draft for six sacks.

The production came from all over.

Led by Maxx Crosby’s two sacks, four players brought down Ward on passing plays. One was White, who also recorded 10 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.

Defensive tackle Jonah Laulu also had a sack, one of the few defenders who had been producing in that area. The second-year player already has three sacks — he had one as a rookie — while playing for his hometown team.

Now Laulu has the task of going against Chiefs interior offensive line that by itself will be enough of a challenge. Add in that Mahomes often will break out of the pocket by going up the middle is something else the Raiders will have to keep an eye on.

“Mahomes is Mahomes and he’s going to make plays,” Laulu said. “We’ve got to do our best to contain him and keep him in that pocket, understanding he will run it up the middle and just being able to have awareness.”

The Raiders at least finally come off a strong performance when pressuring the quarterback. Ward, according to Next Gen Stats, had just a 1.2 quarterback rating when pressured, completing 3 of 10 passes for 33 yards with an interception.

Ward isn’t Mahomes, but few quarterbacks are on that level. No matter, it was the kind of performance the Raiders have been waiting to produce.

Better to head to Kansas City off that kind of game.

“It’s very valuable,” White said. “We were able to mix up the rushes and were able to play with a bit of a lead. Forced them to have to pass the ball more than run. We dominated the run early, so that also allowed us to be able to rush the passer. So I think it goes hand in hand. We’ve got to try to stop the run again and try to force (Mahomes) into passing situations so we can do what we do.”

Sitting out

Tight end Brock Bowers (knee), wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (knee and toe) and running back Dylan Laube (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday.

Bowers has missed the past two games, and he could be out another game with the hope the bye week that follows will allow him to return closer to full health.

“I’m optimistic always, but that doesn’t mean we’re getting him back,” Carroll said. “So you look at the long haul of it, it might be best to just guarantee that he’s full speed and back. So we’ll see how we handle that.”

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