The Raiders’ Best Defensive Weapon Against Mahomes May Be What They Don’t Do

The Raiders may have found one of the better ways to make Patrick Mahomes uncomfortable, and it is not by sending everybody after him.

Kansas City’s official Week 4 preview notes that Las Vegas has generated the NFL’s second-highest pressure rate at 36.3% while blitzing on only 19.5% of defensive snaps. The Raiders also have 10 sacks through three games, fourth-most in the league, with Maxx Crosby leading the way at 17 pressures, followed by Malcolm Koonce with 11 and Kwity Paye with nine.

That combination matters because it gives Las Vegas something every defense wants against Mahomes: the ability to create pressure without sacrificing bodies in coverage.

Pressure Without the Blitz Changes the Math

When a defense blitzes, it is making a trade. Extra rushers can speed up the quarterback, but somebody has to leave coverage to join the rush.

Against many quarterbacks, that trade is worthwhile.

Against Mahomes, it can become dangerous. NFL Next Gen Stats has documented his long-term success against extra rushers, including a 116.5 career passer rating when facing five or more pass rushers compared with 109.0 against four or fewer.

That does not mean blitzing Mahomes is automatically wrong. Situational pressure still matters, especially on third down or in the red zone. But it explains why a defense that can win with four has a strategic advantage.

If Crosby, Koonce, Paye and the rest of the front can affect Mahomes without help, Las Vegas can leave seven defenders available to clog throwing lanes, bracket Travis Kelce, squeeze intermediate routes and rally to underneath completions.

That is a much harder picture than a defense that has to manufacture pressure by giving Mahomes obvious one-on-one matchups.

The Raiders Are Not Choosing Between Coverage and Pressure

The most impressive part of Las Vegas’ early defensive start is not simply the sack total.

It is that the Raiders have largely avoided the usual compromise.

Defenses often have to choose between flooding coverage and attacking the quarterback. Through three games, Las Vegas has created pressure at an elite rate while still keeping its blitz rate low.

That allows defensive coordinator Rob Leonard to play with numbers behind the rush.

For Kansas City, that means the challenge is not merely “block Maxx Crosby.” It is creating enough time and enough space at the same time.

Those are different problems.

A quarterback can survive quick pressure if the coverage is thin. He can also survive tight coverage if the pocket stays clean long enough for routes to develop. The Raiders are trying to deny both.

Kansas City’s Balance Is the Counter

The good news for the Chiefs is that their offense is better equipped for this kind of defense than it was a year ago.

Kansas City enters Sunday with the NFL’s No. 2 total offense at 416.3 yards per game. Ken Walker leads the league in rushing and has forced 41 missed tackles, while the Chiefs have also developed the league’s top play-action passing attack through three games.

The official Chiefs preview notes that Kansas City already has 312 passing yards on play action after producing only 396 all season in 2025.

That matters because a four-man rush works best when the defensive line can attack predictably.

If Walker forces the Raiders to honor the run, edge defenders cannot simply race upfield every snap. If Kansas City can stay under center and sell play action, linebackers and safeties have to hesitate before expanding into coverage.

That hesitation can create exactly the windows Mahomes needs.

This Is Also a Test for the Offensive Line

There is no scheme that completely erases a dominant four-man rush.

At some point, blockers have to win.

That makes Kahlil Benson’s matchup especially important with Josh Simmons ruled out because of his back injury. Benson has played well enough to earn NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month honors, but Crosby presents a different kind of stress than a normal September assignment.

If Kansas City needs to commit a tight end or running back to help constantly, the Raiders have already changed the structure of the passing game without sending an extra defender.

That is why the battle up front could determine what Andy Reid is able to call downfield.

The Counterargument: Mahomes Is Playing Too Well to Sit Back

There is a reasonable argument that giving Mahomes time with only four rushers is asking for trouble.

He has 812 passing yards, seven touchdowns and a 108.9 passer rating through three games, his best three-game start by several measures since 2022. Kansas City is also creating more explosive plays than it did last season.

If the Raiders’ front does not get home, extra coverage bodies may simply give Mahomes more time to find the eventual opening.

That is the risk.

But it is still a better risk than repeatedly announcing pressure and asking Mahomes to identify the vacated area before the snap.

My Take

The Raiders’ most dangerous defensive weapon against Mahomes may be what they do not have to do.

They do not have to blitz very often.

If Las Vegas can pressure Mahomes with four, it can keep seven defenders involved in coverage and force Kansas City to earn completions through tighter windows and longer-developing reads.

That is a more sustainable challenge than simply hoping Crosby wins one-on-one every snap.

Kansas City’s answer should be balance: run the football, use play action, move the launch point and avoid turning Sunday into a series of obvious third-and-long dropbacks.

If the Chiefs can force Las Vegas to abandon its preferred four-man plan and start sending extra bodies, the matchup changes.

And once a defense starts giving Patrick Mahomes fewer people to throw around, history says that is usually when he becomes most dangerous.

Sources

Kansas City Chiefs — Five Things to Watch on Sunday: Chiefs vs. Raiders

NFL Next Gen Stats — Patrick Mahomes’ success vs. the blitz

Josh Simmons’ Back Injury Changes the Chiefs’ Left-Tackle Question

For the first three weeks of the season, Josh Simmons’ absence could still be treated as a waiting game.

Kansas City knew its starting left tackle had a back problem. The hope was that the issue would calm down, Simmons would regain strength and the Chiefs would eventually get their preferred blind-side protector back.

Wednesday changed the conversation.

Andy Reid disclosed that Simmons is dealing with a bulging disk in his lower back that has affected the strength in his leg. Simmons did not practice Wednesday, although Reid also said the tackle is making progress and that the team currently believes surgery may not be necessary. Arrowhead Pride

That is encouraging medically.

From a football-planning standpoint, however, it means Kansas City needs to treat left tackle as a present-tense problem rather than an expected short-term absence.

Not Putting Simmons on IR Does Not Mean a Return Is Imminent

The Chiefs chose not to place Simmons on injured reserve.

That can sound like evidence that a return is close.

Reid’s explanation was more cautious.

Kansas City did not need the roster spot, and the uncertainty of back injuries made the team reluctant to lock Simmons into a fixed absence. Reid emphasized that Simmons is working, improving and undergoing follow-up evaluations. Arrowhead Pride

That is not the same thing as saying he will play Sunday.

In fact, the official Wednesday injury report listed Simmons as a non-participant. Kansas City had no game designation for him yet because final statuses come later in the week. Kansas City Chiefs

The practical lesson is simple: Kansas City should build the Raiders game plan around the line it has available, not the line it hopes to have later.

The Opponent Makes the Timing Uncomfortable

That would matter against anyone.

It matters more because Maxx Crosby is waiting on the other side.

Crosby has 71 career sacks and is coming off a 2025 season in which he recorded 10 sacks, 28 tackles for loss and 20 quarterback hits. He has 1.5 sacks through three games this season. Las Vegas Raiders

Patrick Mahomes called facing Crosby the kind of matchup that represents competitors testing themselves against the best. Kansas City Chiefs

That is the fun version of the matchup.

The less romantic version is that Kansas City cannot afford to leave a vulnerable edge isolated for four quarters and assume Mahomes will solve whatever reaches him.

Protection plans matter.

Tight-end alignment matters.

Running-back help matters.

Quick-game concepts matter.

So does the ability to run the football well enough that Crosby cannot attack the same pass set over and over.

The Chiefs Do Have More Ways to Protect the Protection

This is where the 2026 offense may be better equipped than some recent Chiefs teams.

Kansas City is no longer asking Mahomes to live almost entirely out of obvious passing situations.

Kenneth Walker III has given the offense a credible rushing threat, and Kansas City has become far more dangerous on play action. That makes it harder for an edge defender to attack every snap as if the quarterback is guaranteed to drop straight back.

That does not neutralize Crosby.

It changes the number of problems he has to diagnose.

An offense with a dangerous running back can use motion, play action, chips and formations to make an elite pass rusher hesitate just enough to alter the timing of a play.

Against Crosby, fractions of a second matter.

There Is a Counterargument

Kansas City is 3-0 without Simmons.

Mahomes is playing efficiently.

The offense is creating explosive plays.

So why treat this as a serious concern?

Because early success does not eliminate matchup-specific weaknesses.

The Chiefs can survive a position issue for several weeks and still encounter an opponent uniquely equipped to attack it.

Crosby is that kind of player.

His current sack total is not enormous, but using three games of sack production to evaluate him would ignore seven years of evidence.

Kansas City does not need to panic.

It does need to respect the problem.

My Take

The most important part of Reid’s Simmons update was not the phrase “bulging disk.”

It was the uncertainty around the timeline.

Kansas City now knows enough to stop pretending this is simply a normal week-to-week injury.

Simmons may continue improving. He may return soon enough that this becomes a temporary concern.

But until he practices and proves he is ready, the Chiefs have to design protection as if help is not arriving.

That makes Sunday against Maxx Crosby an important test of Andy Reid’s offense.

If Kansas City can protect Mahomes without becoming predictable, it will show the Chiefs have developed something almost as valuable as a healthy starting left tackle:

A system capable of surviving without one.

Sources

Kansas City Chiefs — Week 4 Chiefs-Raiders injury report

KMBC — Andy Reid details Josh Simmons’ bulging disk

NFL — Week 4 official injury report

Raiders — Maxx Crosby career statistics

Chiefs — Patrick Mahomes discusses facing Maxx Crosby