Derek Carr, Jon Gruden aware being monumental underdogs to Chiefs

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ALAMEDA – Coaches like taking advantage of the underdog mentality. You can motivate by saying it’s a slight that the team isn’t getting proper respect that can be earned by beating a favorite.

It often works. Players get fired up, and emotion can equalize things a bit.

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden isn’t above using one of the oldest tricks around. In this case, leading into Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, it portends a tall task ahead.

[RELATED: Gruden compares Pat Mahomes to Brett Favre]

“We know what the point spread is,” Gruden said. “We know what we’re up against. We’re anxious to compete, that’s all I can say.”

The point spread for this AFC West clash is gargantuan. The Raiders are 15-point underdogs. That’s the largest spread at home in franchise history, per Pro Football Reference.

It’s the first time since 2007 a home team was on the low end of such a point spread in their own building, and all three instances that year were against the New England Patriots.

The have been at least 15-points ‘dogs five times on the road, and Gruden can point to the 2009 game where Bruce Gradkowski helped pull off an improbable upset.

“The way he coaches, every game feels like you’re the underdog and no one believes you can do it,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “He’s just instilling that fight in our team. Whatever it is, I assume that we are this week, so it’ll be a fun one this week and I’m looking forward to competing against them.”

The Raiders aren’t blind to the extreme talent disparity between these two rivals. The Chiefs are what the Raiders to become once Gruden’s rebuild is complete. The Chiefs have so much young talent they may still be on top, so it’s a tall order trying to reach that peak. Gruden choice to trade superstars has created a wider gap, but Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, also Gruden’s longtime friend and colleague, is confident the Raiders architect will get it right.

“He’s doing what he thinks is right,” Reid said. “You can’t ever question when you have a record like he has, Super Bowl Champ, etc., etc. I don’t know, none of us know, including you guys as much as you’re around him, no one knows the whole picture like the head coach does and what needs to be done and so on. I would defer to him. I’ve known him a long time and I’m very confident in his ability. He’s doing what he thinks are the right things.”

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