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By the Numbers: Aidan O'Connell impresses in return, pass rush gets to Mahomes

The Raiders showed fight for 60 minutes at Arrowhead Stadium but came up short in the final seconds, falling 19-17 to the Chiefs.

Here are some key takeaways and metrics from the Black Friday loss in Kansas City.

O'Connell Impresses In Return

Aidan O'Connell - activated off injured reserve last week - made his third start of the season and first since Week 7. O'Connell completed 23-of-35 passes (65.7%) for a single-game career-high 340 yards, two touchdowns and a 116.4 passer rating. The last Raiders quarterback to throw for 340+ yards and no interceptions was Derek Carr in October 2021 at the Broncos (341 yards, two passing touchdowns).

O'Connell registered the second-highest passer rating in a start of his career. Per Next Gen Stats, his touchdown pass to Tre Tucker traveled 50.4 yards in the air, the longest completion of his career.

The Raiders' recorded seven pass plays of 25+ yards, the most by any team in a game against the Chiefs since at least 1991.

A Brock Friday Special

With a national audience tuned in on Black Friday, rookie tight end Brock Bowers put on a show. He led the Silver and Black with 10 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. He now has a touchdown in three of his last four games.

Bowers (84) passed Keith Jackson (81) for the second-most receptions by a rookie tight end all-time.

Per NFL Research, his 84 receptions through his first 12 games trail only Odell Beckham Jr. (91) all-time.

Bowers currently leads the NFL in receptions and ranks first among all rookies and all tight ends in receiving yards (884), yards after the catch (445) and receiving first downs (43).

Defense Sacks Mahomes Five Times

The Raiders recorded a season-high five sacks against the Chiefs. It ties their largest sack total in a game since an eight-sack outing against the Giants in 2023 (Week 9). It also ties the most sacks on Mahomes in his 126-game career (regular season and postseason) and marks the third time he's been sacked five times.

The Raiders got sacks from K'Lavon Chaisson (1.5), Maxx Crosby (1.0), Zach Carter (1.0) and Adam Butler (0.5). Per Next Gen Stats, Chaisson generated a career-high eight quarterback pressures on 19 pass rushes (42.1%) against the Chiefs. His eight pressures tied Maxx Crosby (Week 6 against Pittsburgh) for the most pressures by a Raiders player in a game this season. As a team, the Raiders' 18 pressures were their second most in a game this season.

Additionally, the Raiders allowed only 63 rushing yards, Kansas City's second fewest in a game this season. Thirty-four of those yards came on one run by Isiah Pacheco. Outside of that play, they managed just 29 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Mahomes finished with his lowest completion percentage in a game (56.5) since Week 11 of the 2023 season.

"We just talked about being relentless," Head Coach Antonio Pierce said Saturday. "No different than every year we play Kansas City with Patrick. It takes everybody, it can't be the Maxx Crosby show. And I thought yesterday, just overall rush coordination, the rush plan, the strain, the finish, 44 [K'Lavon Chassion], nine [Tyree Wilson], 69 [Adam Butler]; I thought they all had some great opportunities, some great rushes, we were winning. We talked about our role players stepping up and beating their role players, and I thought there was really good examples of it."

Turner's Offense Through Three Games

The Raiders have now played three games with Scott Turner as interim offensive coordinator and his father, Norv, by his side as a senior advisor. The offense has topped 325 yards of total offense in each of those three games. Here's how the Turner-led offense compares to the first nine weeks of the 2024 season.

Category Weeks 1-9 Weeks 11-13
Yards Per Game 280.2 (29th) 377.0 (8th)
Yards Per Play 4.6 (29th) 5.7 (14th)
Rushing Yards Per Game 76.9 (32nd) 81.7 (26th)
Yards Per Rush Attempt 3.5 (32nd) 4.3 (19th)
Passing Yards Per Game 203.3 (19th) 295.3 (5th)
Net Yards Per Pass Attempt 5.7 (25th) 6.8 (15th)
Pass Interceptions Rate 3.1% (27th) 1.5% (17th)
First Downs Per Game 17.3 (27th) 21.0 (12th)
Third Down Conversion Percentage 33.6% (26th) 37.5% (16th)
Offensive Success Rate 39.8% (31st) 44.7% (20th)
Red Zone Efficiency 59.1% (11th) 22.2% (30th)
Offensive Points Scored Per Game 17.9 (26th) 18.3 (24th)

As the table above illustrates, the Raiders offense has improved in most categories. Despite these positive trends, the Silver and Black have scored just 51 total points over the last three games (19, 19, 17) and only marginally increased their scoring average from 17.9 points per game in Weeks 1-9 to 18.3 points per game in Weeks 11-13.

So why aren't the statistical improvements being reflected on the scoreboard?

One place you can look is the Raiders' execution in the red zone. The Silver and Black's red zone efficiency - the percent of red zone possessions that end in a touchdown - has dropped from 59.1% (11th) in Weeks 1-9 to 22.2% (30th) in Weeks 11-13. While the overall offensive success rate has risen over the past three games, it has declined from 50.0% (T-6th) in Weeks 1-9 to 31.0% (30th) in Weeks 11-13 on plays inside the red zone.

if the Raiders want to get back in the win column in Week 14 and beyond, they'll need to finish more drives with touchdowns. NFL teams have a 21-118 (.151) record when scoring 19 or fewer points this season. The Raiders have scored 19 or fewer points and lost the turnover battle in each of the past three games.

Numbers to Know

Before Week 12, the Raiders hadn't returned a kickoff over 50 yards since the 2019 season. They've now recorded kickoff returns of 59 yards (Dylan Laube) and 68 yards (Ameer Abdullah) in back-to-back games.

From Week 5 to Week 11, the Raiders had eight rushes of 10+ yards. They have six in the last two games. Sincere McCormick totaled 17 carries for 97 yards (5.7 avg.) in Weeks 12 and 13. Only three running backs (Saquon Barkley, Bucky Irving and Jahmyr Gibbs) averaged more yards per carry over the past two weeks (min. 15 attempts).

The Raiders have recorded at least two passes defensed in 13 straight games, the fifth-longest active streak in the NFL.

View the best photos from the Raiders' Week 13 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

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