The Las Vegas Raiders played host to arch rival Kansas City Chiefs on a Sunday night showdown. In what was a valiant effort, the Raiders fell short of a fourth straight victory to the hands of the super bowl champions, 35-31 on the arm of a game-winning Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass to Travis Kelce.
As expected, the Raiders were going to have to score plenty of points to give themselves a shot at coming away with a victory in this ball game. The offense was not the problem on this night, in fact against most teams the 31 point showcase is enough to win. Derek Carr played outstandingly, outside of game sealing interception off of a prayer ball, Carr put up a stat line of 23 for 31 with 275 yards and three touchdown passes. Darren Waller and Nelson Agholor were the usual targets, both with a combined 13 catch, 175 yard performance and two touchdown effort between the two. Although, late in the game Nelson Agholor did have a crucial drop along with fullback Alec Ingold, dropping multiple crucial passes. Nevertheless, Agholor has been great and showed to be a terrific target for Derek Carr this season, his slip ups can be forgiven in Las Vegas unlike the back end of his career in Philadelphia. Josh Jacobs, did not put up tons of yardage as he did in the three game win streak for the raiders, he had 55 yards for a touchdown in this performance. Partner Devontae Booker, was even less of a factor with 16 yards in this game, the run first Raiders turned to Derek Carr’s arm and it did the job when it comes to scoring points.
Not when it comes to securing the win though and frankly it isn’t all the offense’s fault, in fact it isn’t at all. The Raiders defense knew they were in for a tough challenge playing potential league MVP, Patrick Mahomes. But the efforts of their final defensive drive was down right Belligerent.
With 1:43 left in the football game, down by three, Patrick Mahomes connect the dots with the Raiders defense. Pinpointing, accurate darts of passes to multiple wide receivers and ultimately finding Travis Kelce wide open in the back of the end zone for the game winning score.
Mahomes was 34/45, 348 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in this win for the chiefs. Although it felt like he gutted the Raiders a whole lot more than what the stats read and that’s saying something..
Although the Raiders drop this game to the Kansas City Chiefs, it isn’t the end of the world. Las Vegas, sits at a 6-4 record, still the final seed in the playoff picture. With games ahead against teams such as the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, who are also in the race, the Raiders will find themselves in more high stakes football games down the stretch.
Las Vegas will travel to Atlanta, for the first time since 2012, to play the 3-7 Falcons.
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