Derek Carr

Was the Oakland Raiders' biggest flaw exposed in Kansas City?

Published Dec. 14, 2016 8:36 a.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

FOX Sports NFL insider Mike Lombardi and the "Undisputed" crew have warned you for weeks now that the Oakland Raiders might be in trouble when the playoffs roll around because of their defense. On Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, a whole new problem came up for Derek Carr and his team.

In icy-cold Kansas City, the Raiders dropped pass after pass, including one particularly weird missed connection between Carr and Amari Cooper late in the game. Some speculated that the ball got caught in the wind; others thought it might have hit one of the camera wires high above the field. But for Skip Bayless, there was a simple explanation throughout the night: Oakland wide receivers looked like their hands were frozen.

And it's the weather that has Shannon Sharpe worried about the Raiders offense moving forward:

I'm looking at the Raiders offense, it's like a Ferrari in Minnesota. You can only bring it out in certain conditions, and if the conditions aren't ideal, it's not functional. This offense and the way they throw the football, when they go to cold weather, they're going to struggle. ... They can run the football okay, but everything is really predicated on them pushing the football down the field, getting big plays. If they don't get big plays, they're very mediocre.

Of course, that could be a huge problem for the Raiders if their road to Super Bowl LI takes them to Kansas City or New England. In January in those cold-weather locations, Oakland could be doomed by its predilection for throwing the football and a sub-par Raiders defense.

As for Lombardi? The former Patriots executive gave credit where credit's due — to the Kansas City defense.

"When the weather drops below 40, 30... Derek Carr looks a lot like Brock Osweiler." — @ShannonSharpe on #OAKvsKC pic.twitter.com/rC2BJsgVab
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) December 9, 2016

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