LAS VEGAS vs KANSAS CITY 

CHIEFS WIN 31 – 0

• Story of the Game – The Chiefs Embarrass the Raiders in every way shape and form

From start to finish and in all three phases the Chiefs dominated the Raiders, so much so that the game was over before the 3rd quarter even ended. While the Raiders defense did a good job at limiting big plays that’s about the only thing they did well this game as the Chiefs dominated the LOS, tore apart the secondary with their screen game, and Mahomes was absolutely perfect on top of it all. The Chiefs defense on the other hand couldn’t seem to do anything wrong as their DL finally came alive this game (Only recorded 1 Sack but limited Raiders run game to longest run being 8yds and forced pressure consistently which attributed to Geno and the Raiders passing game having such a rough day) and the secondary was smothering and ultimately held the Raiders to 75 passing yards. In every way describable the Chiefs dominated the Raiders and the best way I can describe it is by listing off a string of stats that I saw with 2:30 left in the 3rd Quarter.

Time of Possession – KC 31:14  LV 11:10 

Total Plays Run – KC 61  LV 17

First Downs – KC 29  LV 2 

• Key Notes for the Chiefs 

I think Mahomes and the OL played their best game of the season so far. The OL gave Mahomes an incredible amount of time and space to work with in the passing game and the few times they did give up pressure Mahomes made up for it by escaping outside of the pocket and making the perfect decision as whether to run or throw and finding ways to create chunk gains in both ways. 

Along with Mahomes and the OL playing their best ball the passing game came alive in the short and intermediate with the return of Rashee Rice in the WR room. His ability to create space in shirt areas and turn those short gains into 10-15yd gains transformed the passing game and opened up the field for the rest of the receiving threats. While the explosive plays may have not been there this game it really wasn’t needed with the improvement in the short areas of the field and I believe as teams have to adjust to this new found success with Ruce back on the field the explosives may open up for the Chiefs.

Much like the OL this is the best game I’ve seen from the Chiefs secondary, pass rush, and really defense as a whole all year so far. While the Raiders offense hasn’t been the most lethal group all year holding a team to under a 100 total yards of offense is absolutely ridiculous in the NFL and if this is what the Chiefs are getting out of their team as a whole moving forward I really can’t say there’s a team in the entire NFL that I trust to win the entire thing as much as them. It was only one week and there’s still a long season ahead but that was a very impressive performance from a group that has had a disappointing year so far.

• Key Notes for the Raiders 

The Raiders passing game has looked incredibly flat ever since the Brock Browers injury but this was another level of disappointment from a group that came into the year with some promise. Geno Smith looked clueless as to what to do against the Chiefs secondary as they smothered his WRs and left him fighting for his life against a pass rush that was wreaking havoc all game. The run game as well looked flat and largely went no where all game but with only 8 carries between Jeanty and Laube they never fully established it or really even gave it a chance to work. While they did fall behind early on this game even the first few drives were heavily predicated on working the short passing game rather than getting under center and running the ball which only forced them into more obvious passing downs that they couldn’t convert all game.

The pass rush even when Maxx Crosby was on the field was non existent and vary rarely threatened Mahomes with even pressure let alone hits/sacks. Their rush lane integrity was also spotty as Mahomes found ways to easily climb the pocket and either find rushing lanes or an open receiver as he regularly extended plays beyond his first 2-3 progressions. Along with the lack of pass rush the defense had a number of penalties that extended drives inside the red zone and allowed the Chiefs to score the few times they did stall out. 

Just a brutal performance to pair with an even worse day offensively and I’m not sure where they go from here as this seems to be headed the wrong direction the past few weeks and their starting point wasn’t exactly promising.

• Standout Performers

KC

Patrick Mahomes – 26/35  286yds  3/0 – 4/28 rush 

Rashee Rice –  7/42  2 TDs 

Brashard Smith – 14/39 rush – 5/42 rec

Chris Jones – 2 Tackles (1 Solo)  1 Sack  1 TFL  

Trent McDuffie – 6 Tackles (4 Solo) 

Jaylen Watson – 1 PBU

• By far his best game of the season 

LV

Tre Tucker – 5/33 

Jeremy Chinn – 10 Tackles (8 Solo)  1 FF

• Wasn’t perfect but held down the back end of the defense and limited a number of big plays