Five Keys to Watch Sunday

Of course in any sport, there are many games within the game itself. Football may be the best example of that, which is why it's so fun to break this sport down over and over again. Underneath I've listed five battles the Chiefs must excel in to give them a great chance of winning the game this Sunday vs. Oakland....

1) Albert vs Seymour- If Cassel is playing and is still dealing with limited mobility, we need to offer him comfort and time even more so than normal. Albert struggled in the season opener against the vaunted Ravens defense, and he needs to play the way he did last year. Albert lost a considerable amount of weight, which would definitely change certain techniques, but at this point that's no excuse. He needs to neutralize Seymour and allow the tight end's and backs to help out the right side of the line, which brings me to my next key.

2) The Right Side of the OL needs to be serviceable- Goff and Ndukwe don't need to be Willie Roaf and Will Shields, but they need to hold their own. Oakland has a decent defense, but they certainly aren't the Ravens. The right side needs to slow the rush and create running lanes at least occasionally for LJ. If this can't happen, the Raiders can just overwhelm the left side with pressure, knowing that they can get through the right side one on one. If KC can do an adequate job on the right side of the OL, Oakland will be at a considerable disadvantage.

3) Bowe vs. Asomugha- Nnamdi Asomugha is one of the top three cover corners in the entire NFL. He has great size at 6' 2'' 210, and runs very well, and also uses great technique and instincts. Dwayne Bowe is an up and coming star in this league, who had 86 receptions and over 1,000 yards last year. Bowe and Asomugha will lock horns early and often come Sunday, and Bowe needs to have some success. I'm not expected Bowe to catch 10 passes for 150 yards, but he needs to make some plays and gain some yards after the catch. If he can do that, the other KC options will open up as the Raiders will start having to roll coverage towards him, leaving Bradley and or Engram on islands with DB's of much less talent. Last year Bowe had 8 catches for 117 yards with 0 TD's in two games vs. Oakland, he needs to do better.

4) The Special Teams needs to keep it up- I'm not saying that the ST needs to block a punt and score, but they needs to continue their great coverage of punts and kickoffs. Colquitt is always money in the bank for KC, booting high, deep punts that often are brutal on the opposition to return. That being said, Ryan Succop needs to continue playing as well as he did against Baltimore. I was impressed with his 53 yard FG under pressure, but I was even more taken back by how deep his kickoffs were. He made Baltimore take the ball at the twenty more than once, and that's of paramount importance. KC needs to start returning kickoffs better, at least getting to the 30 yard line. The casual fan doesn't realize how important field position is, but it's vital to success in this league.

5) Stop the Run- If the Chiefs can stiffle Oakland's ground attack, KC will win, period. Pendergast desperately wants JaMarcus Russell to have to throw the ball to win on Sunday. Russell was 12-30 in the season opener, which shows why he's been labeled a bust by quite a few pundits. Kansas City's greatest strength is the secondary, especially if Flowers is active. The Raiders don't have good wideouts, and if the Raiders can't run the ball effectively, the Chiefs will be in fantastic shape. Oakland needs the run to set up the pass more than maybe any other team in the NFL because frankly, the QB just isn't that good. Their OL is great at drive blocking, but is pedestrian as pass blockers.

5A) 3rd Down Stops- If KC can stop Oakland efficiently and keep their time of possession down, our run defense will look immeasurably better for obvious reasons. For the record, the Ravens in the first half rushed 33 yards on ten carries, and that was with the Chiefs expecting the pass by early in the 2nd quarter. In the 3rd quarter Baltimore rushed the ball 12 times for 77 yards. In the 4th quarter they rushed 13 times again for 48 yards( I excluded scrambles by Flacco). The defense needs to help itself out by getting off the field on 3rd and medium/long situations. Also, the offense needs to help the cause by converting some 3rd downs of their own and getting the early lead, forcing Oakland to throw the ball.