Getty Clelin Ferrell taking down Patrick Mahomes.
Clelin Ferrell has often been criticized by the Las Vegas Raiders fan base, but he proved against the New York Jets just how valuable he is to this defense. He had two massive strip-sacks on Sam Darnold and the Raiders probably lose the game if it wasn’t for those plays. Obviously, the team would love to see his sack numbers go up but there’s no doubt he’s better than what his stats are showing.
His best game of the season, prior to the Jets game, came in the first matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite not getting a single sack, he was terrorizing Patrick Mahomes all game. There’s a chance the Raiders pull off the win in their second game against the Chiefs if Ferrell wasn’t out and played at the same level. Based on recent comments from him, it sounds like he’s confident that they’d beat him if he were on the field.
“Part of the reason I feel like we lost those last two games (against the Atlanta Falcons and Chiefs) was because I wasn’t playing,” Ferrell said Sunday after the win.
Ferrell then decided to take a bit of a shot at the Chiefs.
“When we put it all together, I don’t think there’s a team in the league that isn’t afraid of us … we beat the so-called world champions, we’ve beaten the Saints, we’ve played well against the top-tier teams. … We’ve still got a long way to go but for this last stretch, we gotta focus in on putting it together.”
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Raiders & Chiefs Could Have Rubber Match in Playoffs
The Raiders have looked bad these last two weeks but that doesn’t erase the fact that they almost beat the Chiefs three weeks ago. If there’s one team Kansas City doesn’t want to see in the playoffs, it’s the Raiders. In their first matchup, Las Vegas had Ferrell and Pro Bowl right tackle Trent Brown in the game. The Raiders were missing both of those guys for the rematch.
If they can get to the playoffs and are relatively healthy, there’s a real shot they could beat the Chiefs. The first mission is for the silver and black to get to the playoffs, which won’t be easy. They very likely need to win at least three of their last four games to have a chance. The Chiefs probably won’t admit it, but they’d prefer if the Raiders don’t end up making the cut.
Raiders Need to Flip a Switch
The Raiders got blown out by a bad Falcons team last week and probably should’ve lost to a winless Jets team this week. That’s not what you want to see from a team hoping to make the playoffs. Las Vegas is extremely fortunate that they are leaving New York with a win because the season might be over if Henry Ruggs and Derek Carr don’t connect on that last touchdown.
The Raiders will be playing three straight home games and two of them are against other AFC Wild Card contenders. Now is the time for them to flip a switch. They had their two dud games against the Falcons and the Jets on the East Coast. They now won’t have to travel for a while and should start to get healthier. It’s time for the team to prove that they’re no longer NFL bottom-feeders.
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