Paul Guenther: Raiders must limit Chiefs’ explosive plays

ALAMEDA, Calif. — When the Raiders and Chiefs played in Week 2, Raiders coach Jon Gruden described quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ second-quarter, four-touchdown onslaught as “a buzz saw.”

The Raiders’ game against the Jets last week was dissimilar in that New York scored in each of the first three quarters, but the result was the same — a blowout loss.

As the Raiders get ready to play the Chiefs on Sunday, it’s clear that Oakland cannot allow big plays at the same pace and expect to win, particularly on the road.

Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther noted the team struggled last week in preventing catch-and-run plays for big gains.

“They hit a bubble screen on us, the guy catches it between two defenders and we get out run,” Guenther said. “The other one was a little flea flicker from the guy from the backside. Those are some plays we have to eliminate.”

While the Raiders have gone through some significant personnel changes in the secondary since Week 2, Guenther said there were plays in that loss to Kansas City where Oakland blew coverages. The Chiefs took advantage of that to complete big plays.

“Guys were out of position on a couple of those touchdowns,” Guenther said. “We just have to stay on top of the receivers, do a good job of the communication and change of strength and all that stuff. That’s really what we’re concentrating on this week.”

“They’re capable of really making big plays, so we’ve got to minimize that or we won’t win the game — that’s for sure,” Gruden said.

Guenther said he’s loved the response by the defensive unit after last week’s struggles, and that the group has done well being positive to try to ensure there’s a better performance against the Chiefs.

“I think they have to learn you can’t let last week affect this week,” Guenther said. “That’s game and it’s done with. That’s why we say in the Monday meetings and made the corrections of what we needed to correct. We need to move on. We have five more ball games and that starts with Kansas City this week. We have to focus on that.”

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Contact Myles Simmons at msimmons@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @MylesASimmons on Twitter.