Versus: Brock Bowers looking to showcase his talents on the national stage

Nov 27, 2024 at 05:03 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

The Las Vegas Raiders will see red on Black Friday.

The Kansas City Chiefs host the Silver and Black for the second matchup this season between the AFC West foes. The first time around, the Chiefs came away with a tightly contested 27-20 win over the Raiders in Week 8. But whenever the Raiders travel to the state of Missouri, chaos ensues. The last home loss the Chiefs suffered was at the hands of the Silver and Black on Christmas Day in 2023.

Before the game begins, dive into three intriguing matchups to follow as the teams gear up for another holiday showdown.

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Brock Bowers vs. Travis Kelce: Part Two

This was the high profile matchup everyone was excited to see Week 8 and now it will be showcased on an ever bigger stage this Friday.

Brock Bowers is solidifying himself as the present and the future of the tight end position, ranking second in the league in receptions (74) and first among his position in receiving yards (744). He has become a focal point of the offense with at least 10 targets in five games this season. The threat he poses on the field has generated matchups against some of the best cornerbacks in the league, including Jalen Ramsey and Patrick Surtain II.

"[W]e were still trying to get it to him, even with Surtain on him," offensive coordinator Scott Turner said of Bowers' Week 11 showing against the Broncos. "They put Surtain a lot, and things like that are going to happen. We can move him around a little bit more. We have moved him around, and we can do more of that."

Travis Kelce, in his 12th NFL season, still remains the top option in the Chiefs' passing game. He's averaged 64.8 receiving yards and eight receptions over his previous five games – that includes his 10 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders in Week 8.

"He's skilled, he's savvy, he's a vet, there's not a coverage that he hasn't seen," Pierce said. "Him and the quarterback are dialed in all the way. I mean, they're running their own routes. Those aren't being drawn up by Andy Reid, that's 15 [Patrick Mahomes] and 87 playing backyard football at times. And the thing about it is, he's a competitor."

What makes both tight ends so hard to defend is their natural feel for getting open in zone coverage. Bowers amplifies that issue for defenders with his ability to gain yards after catch. Notably, the Chiefs defense has allowed the most receiving yards to tight ends in the league in 2024.

Decamerion Richardson vs. DeAndre Hopkins

Decamerion Richardson's first NFL start came with several triumphs and tribulations.

The 2024 fourth-round pick led the Raiders in solo tackles (eight) along with one pass deflection. However, he allowed five receptions for 70 yards in coverage – a learning experience for the rookie.

"You play corner in this league; they are going to catch the ball. ... And D-Cam, look, they caught some balls on you," Pierce said after Richardson's first start. "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."

Despite some of the hardships that came in Week 11, Richardson is still the most viable option to cover Chiefs receiver DeAndre Hopkins with Nate Hobbs (ankle) and Jakorian Bennett (shoulder) being ruled out Wednesday by Pierce. The rookie, with his long, 6-foot-2 frame, should match up well against the 6-foot-1 Hopkins with a notable jumping ability. The three-time All Pro receiver has totaled 235 receiving yards and three touchdowns since being traded to the Chiefs from the Tennessee Titans earlier this year.

The Las Vegas Raiders vs. Arrowhead Stadium

GeHa Field at Arrowhead Stadium is arguably the most hostile environment the Raiders will enter this season.

For starters, it's a primetime affair on Black Friday with the whole country tuning in on Amazon Prime Video. Additionally, it's a divisional rivalry game against a 10-1 Kansas City Chiefs team that's riding back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

And it will be loud. Really loud. Arrowhead Stadium holds the world record for the loudest peak noise at an NFL game at 142.2 decibels.

In spite of that, the Raiders have found success in the Chiefs' home territory over the last few years. They've split their last four outings at Arrowhead Stadium with the Chiefs, including a 20-14 victory in Week 16 last season. It seems the team feeds off the hostility more than anything.

"The rivalry is what it is," Pierce said. "I think if you look at the last couple games, we've played them close. It's been back and forth, and it's been physical, and they're going to come after us. We know them, they know us, and there's a lot of trash talking.

"And they don't like the color[s] of Silver and Black, and we don't like red. So, it should be fun."

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Las Vegas Raiders center Will Putnam (67) during practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.