The Raiders and Chiefs will meet for the first time this season on Sunday and that means Raiders coach Jon Gruden will be facing off against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the first time.
Anyone familiar with Gruden from Monday Night Football will know that he’s not shy about giving a rave review to a quarterback who most others view in more measured tones. When there’s a player playing at the level Mahomes has been at this season, things would go even further and Gruden showed on Wednesday that he hasn’t lost his ability to go the extra mile.
“His overall skill set is sickening,” Gruden said, via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I mean, it really is. He’s double-jointed. He can throw the ball from any platform possible: running to his left, fading backwards. He can get out of trouble. And I compliment everybody. I’ve been accused of that, but this guy has off-the-chart arm talent. His skill level in unbelievable, and he’s got a playing style that reminds me of Favre. He’s a young Favre. That’s why I think Andy Reid went and got him. He won’t quit on any plays; he makes a lot of plays when there’s nothing there. I don’t have time to talk about him anymore.”
While Gruden is often on the hyperbolic side, he’s not the first to throw the Brett Favre comparison out there. Reid did the same earlier this season and former Chief Tamba Hali invoked Favre’s name in the offseason before Mahomes stormed his way through the first 11 games of the year.
The Raiders haven’t had much luck against quarterbacks who haven’t drawn even faint comparisons to Favre and that doesn’t bode all that well for Gruden’s side heading into Sunday.