Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:30p.m. EST

Thought the quality of football can be lacking on Thursday nights, especially this late in the season, I can guarantee there will be no lack of intensity in this one. This old rivalry runs all the way back through the AFL days. Their final matchup of the 2016 season will be no different.

Keys to the Game

Oakland

On the road at Arrowhead stadium, one of the loudest in the NFL, it will be important for the Raiders to establish themselves early. It gets loud at Arrowhead, real loud, and a young QB like Derek Carr may have trouble calling out changes at the line of scrimmage. It’s going to be important for the Raider offense to be on the same page if they want to have success against a stingy KC defense. They’ll be bringing pressure all night while Marcus Peters tries to lock down Amari Cooper.

Kansas City

Their key to victory will be to keep Amari Cooper under wraps. Cooper is Oakland’s biggest offensive weapon and has the ability to take over games. The Chiefs will be counting on Marcus Peters to contain him and allow the rest of the KC defense to focus on getting to Derek Carr and shutting down the run game. The Chiefs will also be keeping tabs on linebacker Khalil Mack all game, attempting to limit his destruction.