Chiefs-Raiders Rapid Reaction: A near-perfect beatdown of the Raiders

PLEASE NOTE: With today’s Rapid Reaction column, we officially welcome our old friend Ron Kopp Jr. back to Arrowhead Pride. After taking a short sabbatical to take care of some family business, Ron has returned as our Contributing Editor. We are thrilled to have him back with us! — JD

On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 31-0 on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs wasted no time putting the Raiders to bed

The Raiders entered Sunday with significant injuries and a 2-4 record that is actually better than their statistics would suggest. The Chiefs entered this game with positive momentum from the return of wide receiver Rashee Rice — and also because of the rhythm the offense has built up over the last few weeks.

Rice immediately improved on it.

The Chiefs scored touchdowns on the first four possessions of the game. The fifth drive (the last for starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes) ended in a field goal. Kansas City led 31-0 as he walked off the field late in the third quarter. He was orchestrating the offense with tempo that varied from possession to possession:

The 92-yard opening drive required nine plays and less than six minutes to score the opening touchdown.

The second touchdown drive used 17 plays and almost nine minutes of game time.

The third consecutive touchdown drive needed 16 plays to go 94 yards, but only required 6 minutes and 22 seconds of clock.

The fourth touchdown was a more standard possession: 11 plays, 65 yards and six minutes of possession.

On Sunday, the Chiefs’ offense demonstrated that it can operate in any way that becomes necessary.

Mahomes played with a full deck of cards

The unit chipped away with the passing game, leaning on the running game simply as a filler between pass calls. Mahomes took advantage of the full health of his receiving corps with confidence — but began with the most tried and true target to start the show: tight end Travis Kelce gained 44 yards on a catch-and-run during the initial drive, taking advantage of Mahomes’ gravity as he approached the line of scrimmage as a runner. He drew the nearest defender to Kelce in zone coverage, opening a lane for Kelce to run down the sideline.

Two plays later, the Chiefs faked a screen to the outside, once again opening up a lane down the sideline for tight end Noah Gray. That set Rice up to take his second catch in three goal-to-go plays into the end zone on a touch-pass jet sweep motion.

The tone-setting drive to start the game was followed up with even more methodical possessions. During the 17-play possession that followed, the Chiefs avoided any third down needing more than two yards — and in a memorable moment, converted a fourth-and-short with a little NSFW fun.

Mahomes’ second touchdown pass of the day was a layup allowed by the Raiders’ defense. On second and goal at the 8-yard line, Las Vegas sent everyone at Mahomes, leaving no safety help for the five defenders spread out sideline to sideline. Wide receiver Hollywood Brown made quick work of the man on him, giving Mahomes a simple throw over the middle to push the score to 14-0.

The 94-play drive to score the third touchdown was highlighted by chunk plays from a range of contributors, including running back Brashard Smith, who finished with 81 total yards over 19 touches. A 17-yard catch-and-run that advanced the drive nearly broke for a 73-yard score.

He also helped keep the opening drive of the second half alive when he finished a screen pass with strong effort to pass the first-down marker on third-and-13. That same drive featured a strong catch over the middle by wide receiver Xavier Worthy, going up for a pass back across the field from Mahomes, who was scrambling along the sideline. Worthy shrugged off the defender, earning a first down and setting up the fourth and final touchdown of the game.

In all, seven different Chiefs players earned at least 25 receiving yards. Five players caught at least three passes. It was Mahomes’ second consecutive game with a completion rate of at least 73%, at least 250 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and no interceptions.

Defense quietly dominated

While the offense was having fun boosting Mahomes’ MVP resume, the defense was doing the dirty work as well as any NFL defense this season. The Raiders finished the game with 95 total net yards and just three first downs. Las Vegas failed on all seven third-down attempts.

It wasn’t an exciting game for the defense. It collected only one turnover, and just one of Las Vegas drive ended in a sack. But in the third quarter, defensive tackle Chris Jones’ second sack of the season felt like the clinching play.

This was one of the most dominant, wall-to-wall victories in the history of Chiefs football.

If this is the way Kansas City is going to look from this point, the rest of the AFC is in trouble.

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