Kansas City Chiefs handicapped vs Oakland Raiders

Nov 29, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston (50) is helped off the field against the Buffalo Bills in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Originally, the thought was that the Oakland Raiders would go into Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs handicapped. It was announced Friday, that Raiders center Rodney Hudson was downgraded to doubtful for the game. Losing Hudson, the anchor of the offensive line, is a major blow to the Raiders offense.

It put’s more stress on quarterback Derek Carr to change the protections when needed. That was something Carr didn’t do so much when the veteran center was in the middle of that offensive line. That’s important because you have to identify blitzers in order to set you protections correctly.

And if you don’t set your protections correctly, or on the same page as your quarterback, he’s going down. There are times that someone is coming unblocked and the quarterback has to know which one. And that intensifies against the Chiefs because they love to blitz and can get after opposing quarterbacks.

But later on Friday, it was announced that outside linebacker Justin Houston is out with a knee injury. At that point, it became clear that the Chiefs are the team that have the real handicap in this game. Opposite edge-rusher Tamba Hali is already playing at less than 100 percent against one of the best pass-protecting offensive lines.

And the Chiefs really need to rush the passer with Marcus Peters matched up on Amari Cooper. Michael Crabtree matched up on Sean Smith or whoever, the Chiefs match it up favors the Raiders. So not having their pass-rush intact for this big rivalry game puts the Chiefs at a disadvantage.

They will be handicapped against the Raiders.