The last time we saw the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pittsburgh Steelers were absolutely whooping their tails on national television. The Chiefs salvaged their respective fantasy days with some garbage-time delight, but it was about as brutal as you could have imagined.
This means that even if people do remember the Chiefs as they come off the bye, their memories of this team won't exactly be of a rosy nature. That's a mighty fine equation given their matchup this weekend.
The Chiefs head out west to face the Oakland Raiders (in another game that could face the wrath of bad weather). This is a much less formidable foe than those aforementioned Steelers with the Raiders ranking 29th against the pass, according to numberFire's metrics. With an over/under of 46.5 and an even spread, this game could see a decent number of points, and it should draw us back to these beaten-down Chiefs.
The Raiders have played five games so far this season. In those five games, four quarterbacks have thrown for at least 298 yards against them, and three have topped 350. Those three quarterbacks also notched at least three touchdown passes, all while never throwing the ball more than 42 times. It's a wonder that Oakland has a 4-1 record despite how many big performances they have allowed to opposing quarterbacks.
Obviously, Alex Smith isn't on the same level as Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, or Philip Rivers. But at $6,800 on FanDuel, he really doesn't have to be.
In order for him to hit around cash-game value, Smith would need to log roughly 17 points. The lowest point total for any quarterback (outside of Marcus Mariota when he was without Delanie Walker) this year against the Raiders is 22.02, and Smith has scored at least 17 points in 5 of his last 10 games (two of which came against these same Raiders). He's likely not the best tournament option due to a lack of upside, but if the weather holds out, he's absolutely in play for cash.
The true desirable targets here are Travis Kelce and Jeremy Maclin. Both have seen at least seven targets in every single game this year, marks that have been superbly productive for opponents against the Raiders.
There are seven wide receivers who have gotten at least seven targets against the Raiders this year. Four of them topped 100 yards receiving, and they have totaled 5 touchdowns. There are an additional two players with 100-yard games without the benefit of that many targets, so you can see why Maclin would be in our wheelhouse.
For Kelce, the Raiders aren't as bad against tight ends as they were early last year, but they're still not prohibitive. Household names such as Jacob Tamme, Hunter Henry, and Austin Hooper have all had at least 74 receiving yards against the Raiders, and the team has allowed 3 touchdowns to tight ends thus far. Kelce's consistent looks are hard to find at the position, and he'll be a top-tier option for the slate.