Raiders Defense Starts Second Half with Two Huge Turnovers (Video)

After getting dismantled in the second quarter, the Oakland Raiders made life tough for Alex Smith to start the second half.

The Oakland Raiders defense may as well have stayed on the sidelines in the second half. After holding the Kansas City Chiefs scoreless in the first period, they allowed 21 points in the second 15-minute frame. Derek Carr led a late drive to pull the score to 21-10 at halftime. However, the defense was in desperate need of getting something cooking coming out of the locker room. If not, it was going to be a long night.

They did all of that and more.

As the Chiefs got the ball to start the third quarter, Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith dropped back to pass. He started looking for Jeremy Maclin in the middle of the field. However, the game-manager extraordinaire stared down his man. That allowed cornerback T.J. Carrie to read the play with easy and jump in front of Maclin. He Hauled in the throw with ease for a big-time interception:

Even with great field position, the KC defense stepped up at home. They held the Raiders to just a field goal.

Then looking to recover from that opening turnover, Smith came back out onto the field. That’s when Oakland star Khalil Mack started to make his presence felt. He beasted his man on the edge and got right at the quarterback. As he’s done several times already this season, he stripped the Chiefs quarterback and his team recovered:

Whenever Mack gets in the zone, it’s bad news for an opposing offense.

Unfortunately for Oakland, they were again kept out of the end zone. Even worse, a bad snap didn’t even allow them to get a kick off on the field goal attempt. They turned the ball over on downs. However, their defense showed up again to force a punt. Consequently, they remained within striking distances on the back of that strong start to the second half.