The Las Vegas Raiders are about to go to one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, if not the toughest place to play. I'd say the Oakland Coliseum used to be up there, too, but now it feels like Arrowhead Stadium is a place no opposing team wants to play. I know fans will hate to read that, but it's the truth.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25638867/2173809520.jpg)
And to make things better for the Raiders, they have to do that short-handed. Not only are they down Gardner Minshew, who would be the backup quarterback, but they will also likely be down two of their running backs, and maybe three, with Sincere McCormick getting a lot of action on Friday.
But most importantly, in my opinion, the Raiders will be without their two best cornerbacks.
"Both will be out," head coach Antonio Pierce said of Nate Hobbs and Jakorian Bennett, the Raiders' two best corners so far this year.
Last week they were without two starting cornerbacks, rookie cornerback, and fourth-round pick, Decamerion Richardson was thrown into the fire. He did okay. he allowed a touchdown and a few other catches, but he's a rookie, that was going to happen.
He will have to face a pretty dynamic group of receivers in Kansas City on Friday.
"Short-term memory," Pierce said. "If you play corner in this league; they are going to catch the ball. I tell Jack [Jones] that all the time. Jack thinks nobody's going to catch the ball on him. And Jack had a really good game last week, but they caught a touchdown. And D-Cam [Decamerion Richardson], look, they caught some balls on you. But one thing about it, he never flinched.
"He didn't blink and we weren't going to bring him out. He's got to go out there and he's got to learn. He's out there with the big boys, and [Courtland] Sutton is a really good player. And they've got some good players this week. But our players will be pretty damn good, too. D-Cam is going to be a good corner, and he has the mentality, he has the speed, he has the mindset of what we want our Raider corners to look like. The production will take place over time."
Richardson and the other young and inexperienced cornerbacks on the roster could be tasked with facing guys like DeAndre Hopkins, one of the best wide receivers of this era, Xavier Worthy, a speedster who ran the fastest 40-yard dash ever, and of course Travis Kelce, the greatest tight end ever.
The Raiders would love to see the young bucks respond well this week, but don't get your hopes up, this Chiefs' bunch isn't going to make it easy.
After their game against the Chiefs, the Raiders' young secondary players will face more competition, like Mike Evans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Drake London and the Atlanta Falcons, Brian Thomas and the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the list keeps going.
-1723778905-q80.webp "Vikings Get Good News on Jordan Addison; Blake Cashman Has Finger Surgery?")
