Hali, Houston, & the Hurts Donut (The Black Donut Hole Edition)

This week our Chiefs roll into the Black Donut Hole to hopefully deliver a message to Carson Palmer & the Oakland Raiders, and that message must be, "Hurts Donut!!!"  O'yeah, spell it however you wish but the message should be heard the same around the league.  This game will heavily rely on the effectiveness of our defense to again stop the run and apply pressure to whoever is under center - Palmer, Boller, or Pryor.  I know we have questionable holes in our defense, especially our secondary.  However, our defense is starting to put it together and thanks to the bye week the extra couple of days to prepare for the Raiders will allow us to be more effective in limiting Oakland's chances.  After the jump I will quickly discuss how the "Hurts Donut" must be delivered in the Black Donut Hole.

The Raiders offense has been strongly based on their rushing attack behind Darren McFadden.  The Raiders are averaging 5.1 YPC on rushing attempts; McFadden is averaging 5.5 YPC.  Everyone (including Hue Jackson) knows that stopping the run will be one of our key's to success, similar to facing Adrian Peterson and the Vikings.  Jackson's goal will be to get the Chiefs to stack the box and fully commit to stopping the run so he can put his new toy (Carson Palmer) on display.  Our big boys up front must get a initial push to collapse the holes which will buy our secondary time to see the play develop.  The game plan is simple and straight forward - get Oakland in passing situations. 

Now Oakland has only surrendered 7-sacks to their opposition.  They have ran the ball 190 times, and have passed for 180 times, which averages 5.7 yards per play.  McFadden, Bush, or Reece have been on the receiving end of 31 of 109 completions.  This means McFadden, Bush, and Reece have touched the ball for positive yards on 211 of 289 plays.  That is 73% of plays are called for these three guys.  Our second keys to success are directed directly at Derrick Johnson & Jon McGraw to cover these guys 100%.  If coverage is solid on these three guys by McGraw/Johnson and Flowers/Carr can cover Moore & Heyward-Bey.  THEN Houston/Hali must capitilize on the opportunity to put the "Hurts Donut" on Palmer, Boller, & Pryor. 

Can Left Tackle, Jared Veldheer and Right Tackle, Khalif Barnes stop Houston & Hali?  They struggled against Dwight Freeney, James Harrison, Cameron Wake, and others...Can Hali & Houston put the "Hurts Donut" on the Oakland Raiders QB committee???  Can Romeo Crennel formulate a strong defensive attack that will slow the Raiders 2nd Ranked Rushing Attack? 

Who do you think our KEY defensive player will be against the Raiders???