Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Brandon Facyson (35) breaks up a pass intended for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) during the first half of an NFL football game at Allegiant Stadium Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021.
Published Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Updated Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021 | 8:20 p.m.
DeSean Jackson walked down the home sideline at Allegiant Stadium scowling and cursing, ignoring teammates’ words of encouragement.
The newest Raider might as well have been representing the way the team’s fans felt Sunday night as the Chiefs battered them in a 41-14 victory.
Gone is Las Vegas’ first-place position in the AFC West. Greatly damaged is its goal to reach the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Las Vegas now stands 5-4 after its most lopsided defeat of the year, smack dab in the middle of arguably the toughest portion of its schedule with two games in four days up next. The Raiders host the upstart, off-a-bye Bengals next Sunday before traveling to Dallas to face the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
The Raiders were confident they had closed the gap on the Chiefs, which have won the division for five straight seasons, after beating them on the road last year and nearly repeating the victory at home. But they weren’t even close to the back-to-back AFC champions in their first game this year.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes broke out of a mini-slump with a 406 yards and five touchdowns on 35-for-50 passing. The former MVP’s first two touchdown passes went to Tyreek Hill, setting the tone for what quickly turned into a long night for the Raiders.
Unlike last year when he went toe-to-toe in a pair of games with Mahomes, Derek Carr struggled for the second consecutive game. He managed 261 yards and two touchdowns to one interception, but a lot of the production came when the game was out of hand and he struggled in key situations.
He did throw a six-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow to tie the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter following what might have been Las Vegas’ best play of the night. Punter A.J. Cole forced a fumble on Chiefs returner Mike Hughes that Foster Moreau recovered.
The Raiders capitalized in five plays, but they wouldn’t be as much as tied for the rest of the night. And the rest of the turnovers went in favor of the Chiefs.
Jackson’s disappointment followed the first catch of his Raiders’ tenure, a 40-yarder down field that looked like a big play with the Chiefs clinging to a 24-14 lead. But cornerback Rashad Fenton punched the ball out of Jackson’s hands and Tyrann Mathieu scooped the loose ball up.
Las Vegas held Kansas City to a field on the ensuing possession, but then pressure forced Derek Carr into a misthrown jump-ball that Daniel Sorensen picked off. Mahomes scrambled and made a highlight play, a 38-yard touchdown pass to Darrel Williams, to go up 34-14 and officially start the rout.
The Raiders have now lost two in a row, but they defended their performance last week against the Giants and were happy with how they played overall apart from three turnovers. There won’t be much to be happy about after this one, a blowout loss to their archrival.
Check back to lasvegassun.com later for more coverage and read below for live updates from throughout the game.
DeSean Jackson walked down the home sideline at Allegiant Stadium scowling and cursing, ignoring teammates’ words of encouragement.
The newest Raider might as well have been representing the way the team’s fans felt Sunday night as the Chiefs battered them in a 41-14 victory.
Gone is Las Vegas’ first-place position in the AFC West. Greatly damaged is its goal to reach the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Las Vegas now stands 5-4 after its most lopsided defeat of the year, smack dab in the middle of arguably the toughest portion of its schedule with two games in four days up next. The Raiders host the upstart, off-a-bye Bengals next Sunday before traveling to Dallas to face the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
The Raiders were confident they had closed the gap on the Chiefs, which have won the division for five straight seasons, after beating them on the road last year and nearly repeating the victory at home. But they weren’t even close to the back-to-back AFC champions in their first game this year.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes broke out of a mini-slump with a 406 yards and five touchdowns on 35-for-50 passing. The former MVP’s first two touchdown passes went to Tyreek Hill, setting the tone for what quickly turned into a long night for the Raiders.
Unlike last year when he went toe-to-toe in a pair of games with Mahomes, Derek Carr struggled for the second consecutive game. He managed 261 yards and two touchdowns to one interception, but a lot of the production came when the game was out of hand and he struggled in key situations.
He did throw a six-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow to tie the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter following what might have been Las Vegas’ best play of the night. Punter A.J. Cole forced a fumble on Chiefs returner Mike Hughes that Foster Moreau recovered.
The Raiders capitalized in five plays, but they wouldn’t be as much as tied for the rest of the night. And the rest of the turnovers went in favor of the Chiefs.
Jackson’s disappointment followed the first catch of his Raiders’ tenure, a 40-yarder down field that looked like a big play with the Chiefs clinging to a 24-14 lead. But cornerback Rashad Fenton punched the ball out of Jackson’s hands and Tyrann Mathieu scooped the loose ball up.
Las Vegas held Kansas City to a field on the ensuing possession, but then pressure forced Derek Carr into a misthrown jump-ball that Daniel Sorensen picked off. Mahomes scrambled and made a highlight play, a 38-yard touchdown pass to Darrel Williams, to go up 34-14 and officially start the rout.
The Raiders have now lost two in a row, but they defended their performance last week against the Giants and were happy with how they played overall apart from three turnovers. There won’t be much to be happy about after this one, a blowout loss to their archrival.
Check back to lasvegassun.com later for more coverage and read below for live updates from throughout the game.
It’s too early to show any mercy, and even if the Chiefs wanted to, it’s arguable at this point if the Raiders would be able to stop them anyway.
Kansas City just scored on another long pass, a 22-yarder from Patrick Mahomes to Byron Pringle to go up 41-14 about midway through the fourth quarter. Mahomes now has five touchdown passes and more than 400 yards.
The Chiefs lulled the Raiders to sleep on the drive by pounding their run game before going over the top. The Raiders haven’t scored on their last three drives, and had turnovers on two of the last three.
Mahomes connects with Williams for highlight touchdown
Add another play to Patrick Mahomes’ legend.
The Chiefs’ fourth-year quarterback just hit Darrel Williams for a 38-yard touchdown while on the run scrambling out of the pocket to put his team up 34-14 at Allegiant Staidum. The Raiders initially protested that Mahomes was past the line of scrimmage, and it was close, but the replay ultimately upheld the score.
Kansas City is pouring it on Las Vegas in a game that has been even more lopsided than the score indicates. The Chiefs have a 425-223 yardage edge with Mahomes’ arm having accounted for 346 yards of that production.
The highlight-worthy pass to Williams, who caught the ball over Las Vegas safety Jonathan Abram, was Mahomes’ fourth touchdown pass of the night.
Raiders’ turnover leads to more Chiefs’ points
The Raiders aren’t dead yet but they’re running out of time to make their move on the Chiefs.
Las Vegas importantly just held Kansas City to its second successful field goal of the night with the score now 27-14 in favor of the visitors after a 35-yarder from Harrison Butker. Las Vegas only had the ball for three plays before disaster struck and Kansas City got it back.
DeSean Jackson made his first catch in silver and black, a deep 40-yard bomb, but fumbled when Rashad Fenton punched the ball out of his arm. Kansas City then went right down the field, but Las Vegas’ defense was ultimately able to hold just outside the red zone.
Making up for a key unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on the last drive, Maxx Crosby pressured Patrick Mahomes on third down and forced the former MVP to throw the ball away. That’s why the Chiefs settled for the field goal.
Chiefs score on fourth-down from the 1-yard line
Allegiant Stadium rumbled on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line for the conclusion of the Chiefs’ first possession of the second half.
It quieted down real fast when Mahomes found third-string tight end Noah Gray for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up 24-14 with seven minutes to play in the third quarter. The Raiders scored on their opening drive of the second half but couldn’t keep the Chiefs from doing the same.
Kansas City went 82 yards in less than five minutes for the touchdown drives, assisted by an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Maxx Crosby. Mahomes currently sits with 247 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 25 of 36 attempts.
Raiders respond out of the locker room
The Raiders needed a big drive to open the second half, and they got it.
Bryan Edwards scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass less than three minutes into the second half, pulling the Raiders within three points of the Chiefs. Kansas City still leads 17-14, but the score now looks a lot tighter than the action has seemed.
Las Vegas needed only five plays to go 75 yards out of halftime, with Derek Carr completing three passes to three different receivers. Zay Jones hauled in a 22-yard reception before Edwards’ touchdown.
Chiefs take control at Allegiant Stadium
Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are tearing apart the Raiders.
The Chiefs lead the Raiders 17-7 at Allegiant Stadium after scoring the game’s last 10 points. Hill just caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes, the veteran receiver’s second score of the night, with 1:39 to go before halftime to give the Chiefs their first double-digit lead of the night.
The Raiders were able to slow the Chiefs short of the red zone on the prior drive, as the visitors settled for a 40-yard field goal from Harrison Butker. But the Chiefs gradually chipped away on the Raiders on the latest possession, which went 54 yards on 10 plays.
Kelce was the go-to target for the Chiefs and he’s already racked up 78 receiving yards on six receptions.
Raiders force turnover, score a touchdown on Chiefs
The Raiders were gifted an extra possession, and they made the most of it.
They’ve tied the game at 7-7 with the Chiefs after recovering a fumble on a punt return. Punter A.J. Cole actually forced the fumble on Mike Hughes at midfield after a long return, and Foster Moreau jumped on the loose ball.
Five plays later, Hunter Renforw used a double-move to catch a 6-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr. Receiver Bryan Edwards was also key on the drive, hauling in a 27-yard catch to start and then drawing a pass interference penalty at the 5-yard line.
Chiefs march down the field on second drive
It took more than 12 minutes — much longer than it did in either of the meetings between these two teams last year — but the first points are on the Allegiant Stadium scoreboard.
Chiefs 7, Raiders 0.
Tyreek Hill caught an 8-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to cap an 11-play, 89-yard drive where the Chiefs’ offense seemed to get back into its vintage form. The Raiders aren’t showing the two-high safety look that has helped teams around the league slow the Chiefs this year and are instead staying in their base, Cover 3 aligment.
Mahomes has feasted on the classiv look so far, completing eight of nine passes for 86 yards. Travis Kelce leads the Chiefs with three catches for 37 yards.
Inactives released
Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia described three players as doubtful after his team’s final practice of the week on Friday — linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, cornerback Amik Robertson and cornerback Keisean Nixon.
Neither Kwaitkoski nor Robertson will play against the Chiefs tonight at Allegiant Stadium. Nixon, however, is active and not listed on the team’s just-released inactives report.
For the second straight game, the Raiders are mostly healthy.
The rest of their inactives consisted of expected players who have not made the gameday roster in previous instances — running back Peyton Barber, safety Tyree Gillespie, defensive end Malcolm Koonce, tackle Jackson Barton and defensive tackle Kendal Vickers. Nixon isn’t a starter himself, but a depth piece at a thin cornerback position and special teams contributor.
The Chiefs are a little more banged up with two straight offensive lineman who have started, Mike Rimmers and Lucas Niang, out.
Pregame
To wear the crown, you must unseat the king — even if the king is in a weakened state. That’s how Las Vegas is approaching the first of two games over the next month against Kansas City, which had ruled the AFC West with five consecutive divisional titles going into this year. The Chiefs’ reign now appears highly at risk of ending as they’ve not looked like the team that’s made two straight Super Bowls this year and sit tied in last place with the division’s worst point differential (-6). Their defense rated as the worst in the league by a significant margin through the first month, and though it’s marginally improved since then, a once-unstoppable offense has simultaneously fallen off. Kansas City has scored only 36 points in its last three games combined, the least fruitful stretch of former MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ tenure. But the Raiders have gone 1-5 all-time against Mahomes’ Chiefs so they aren’t preparing for their rivals to be at anything less than full strength on Sunday Night Football.
• Who: Chiefs (5-4) at Raiders (5-3)
• When: 5:20 p.m.
• Where: Allegiant Stadium
• TV: KSNV Channel 3, NBC
• Radio: Raider Nation Radio 920 AM, KOMP 92.3
• Betting line: Chiefs -2.5, over/under 52.5
Favorable matchup: Raiders’ explosive play ability vs. Chiefs’ defense
One of Raiders coach Rich Bisaccia’s two biggest concerns out of last week’s 23-16 loss to the Giants was the offense’s lack of big plays. That may seem unfair considering they had five plays of more than 20 yards, but few were timely and none went for more than 25 yards. Look for an extra emphasis on “explosives,” as Bisaccia calls them, against the Chiefs. Las Vegas has every reason to think it could find success in that department against Kansas City. The Raiders are first in the NFL in explosive pass rate at 13%, according to Sharp Football Analysis. Much of the success came behind now-former receiver Henry Ruggs III, but the Raiders signed veteran DeSean Jackson this week to help fill the big-play need. The Chiefs, meanwhile, have regularly gotten gashed by the deep pass and yards after catch. Their defense rates 27th in the NFL in giving up explosive passes on 11% of plays.
“It was just an inaccurate day for me. I don’t remember a day where I’d throw a ball and I was like, ‘Dude, what is going on?’ I don’t remember a day in recent memory where it was that bad.”
— Carr on his miscues against the Giants last week
•••
“I have a quote, ‘Made in Cali, but (pauses),’ I can’t remember what it was, but basically, it’s a quote I’ve got on tattoo somewhere. Basically, it’s just saying I’m from L.A., made in Cali, but I’ve been everywhere.”
— Jackson introducing himself in his first news conference as a Raider
•••
“As a defensive lineman, this is one of those games where all that conditioning comes into effect because he’s running around everywhere, he’s dropping deep in the pocket. We’ve got to just go hustle, go hunt, live to go hunt.”
— Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson on playing against Mahomes
•••
“They’re our biggest rival and they have been throughout our history. We make sure our players are aware of it.”
— Offensive coordinator Greg Olson on the ever-present importance of playing the Chiefs.
Problematic matchup: Chiefs’ takeaway ability vs. Raiders’ offense
Bisaccia’s most significant gripe out of the defeat to the Giants, and the primary cause for the loss, were the Raiders’ three turnovers. Quarterback Derek Carr was responsible for all three — two interceptions and one fumble — in a rare off-day, and he’s always been one who’s subscribed to the “turnovers come in bunches” theory. It will be up to him to rediscover his accuracy and break the cycle against a Chiefs’ defense that’s thrived on forcing takeaways for years now. It’s been the one undeniable positive of embattled Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s tenure as only three NFL teams (Bills, Seahawks and Saints) have registered more turnovers than the Chiefs since he took over in 2019. Kansas City’s ballhawking ways were a key component of last week’s 13-7 win over Green Bay as it forced three fumbles — though only recovered one — and came up with an interception at the 5-yard line. The defender Carr may want to avoid most is Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, who has 12 interceptions in three years with the team including one against the Raiders.
Gamebreaker: Wide receiver DeSean Jackson
Jackson isn’t sure if it was 1993 or 1994, but in one of those years, he went to his first NFL game as a child — the Los Angeles Raiders hosting the Chiefs at the Coliseum. Either way, the Raiders lost. Now he’ll be making his Raider debut in the same matchup, determined to be a part of a different result. He should have a say in the outcome because Las Vegas doesn’t have enough wide receiver depth to ease him into action. The 34-year-old instantly becomes the Raiders’ fastest and most dangerous deep threat. He arrives to Las Vegas after a failed seven-game stint with his hometown Los Angeles Rams, ending when he asked for his release in search of more opportunity. Jackson felt he was deserving of more than a few snaps per game and wanted to go to a team where he could simultaneously compete for a playoff berth and firm up his fringe Hall of Fame case. The Raiders were a match.
Big Number: 143
Combined targets this season by Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Las Vegas’ Darren Waller, the two star tight ends in the game. Kelce sat first in the NFL among tight ends with 79 targets with Waller trailing in second at 64 targets entering Week 10. They’ve both even fallen slightly short of preseason expectations, which speaks to just how impactful they can be. It wouldn’t come as a surprise at all if the team that wins the game is ultimately the one that gets a better performance out of their Pro Bowl tight end. Kelce has particularly haunted the Raiders as he has more than 100 receiving yards in three of his last four games against them. He scored the game-winning touchdown inside the final minute on a 22-yard reception in the Chiefs’ first trip to Allegiant Stadium a year ago.
Best Bet (4-4): Darrel Williams under 55.5 rushing yards
The Raiders have struggled versus the rush in a couple games, but overall, they’re not nearly as bad against the ground game as either conventional statistics or some alarmists indicate. They’re right at league average in defending the run by Football Outsiders’ DVOA, sitting at 16th. And the Chiefs don’t run much anyway. They’re 28th in the NFL with a 35.6% run play percentage. They’ve also been rotating in Derrick Gore lately, meaning Williams isn’t guaranteed to draw a large amount of carries. Kansas City isn’t likely to implement a run-heavy game plan in Las Vegas unless it gets out to a big lead. That could happen but it should be more of a long shot. This should be a close game.
