Coming off of a bye, the Chiefs defense struggled, as Derek Carr and the Raiders put up 31 on Steve Spagnuolo’s unit. Nonetheless, Patrick Mahomes strengthened his MVP case, leading a 7-play, 75-yard drive in just 75 seconds with under two to play to give the Chiefs a 35-31 victory.
There was plenty of hype coming into this one, and it sure lived up to the billing.
It was crazy from the beginning, with each team scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. For the Chiefs, it was Tyreek Hill and Clyde Edwards-Helaire finding the endzone early.
Near the end of the first half, the Chiefs were driving down 17-14, but an apparent miscommunication between Mahomes and Demarcus Robinson led to an interception, just Mahomes’ second of the season, both against the Raiders.
Coming out of the locker room, both teams traded touchdowns again, with Edwards-Helaire hitting paydirt from 14 yards out, capping off a 16-play, 93-yard, 8:37 drive.
As mentioned above, the Raiders responded with a TD of their own to give them a 24-21 advantage, which held until just under six to go in the game, when Le’Veon Bell found the endzone for the first time in the red and gold.
Derek Carr and the black and silver once again refused to go down, taking the lead on a Jason Witten touchdown with just 1:43 remaining.
It set the stage for Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense, and they did not disappoint, going 75 yards on just seven plays in just 1:15 with Mahomes finding Kelce open in the endzone for the lead with just 28 seconds left.
When the Raiders got the football back, who else but Dirty Dan Sorensen to come away with the clinching interception.
With the win, the Chiefs split the season series with the Raiders and now lead them by three games in the AFC West. As far as the AFC goes as a whole, the Chiefs keep pace with the 10-0 Steelers, who play the Ravens on Thanksgiving this Thursday night. No other AFC team has eight wins, but there is a cluster of teams at 7-3 and 6-4, including the Raiders (6-4).
The Chiefs will now turn their attention to Tom Brady and the Bucs’ high-powered offense, and they will presumably need a better showing next week to come out of Tampa with a victory.
For now though, a win is a win, and the Chiefs move to 9-1 for the second time in three years.
Stay tuned to Arrowhead Live for more postgame coverage and analysis.
