Raiders fall 28-10 to red-hot Mahomes and Chiefs
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Raiders held a 10-0 lead after the first quarter, but the rest of Sunday’s game belonged to quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. He threw four touchdown passes in the second quarter, and the Chiefs beat the Raiders 28-10.
Mahomes recorded 278 yards passing in that quarter — a Chiefs franchise record — and the most passing yards in a quarter since Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 294 against the Atlanta Falcons in 2008.
“We ran into a buzz saw for about seven minutes today,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said.
While Kansas City did score three of its touchdowns within the last six minutes of the second quarter, the onslaught began with the period’s first snap. On that play, Mahomes threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who was wide open down the left sideline.
After that score and a Raiders punt, the Chiefs went 94 yards in 14 plays, scoring on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to wide receiver Mecole Hardman. On that drive, first-round pick Clelin Ferrell committed a neutral-zone infraction on third-and-4 to give the Chiefs a free first down. The Chiefs scored their TD on third-and-20.
Kansas City’s third touchdown of the quarter came on a 27-yard pass from Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce on a second-and-17 play. Then, after a Raiders three-and-out, Mahomes took one play to hit Robinson for a 39-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left in the first half.
“He was making plays, making throws down the field,” cornerback Daryl Worley said. “We’ve just got to be better in those types of situations. ”
“It’s a combination of a great young quarterback with a scheme that really suits him,” Gruden said. “We have to do a better job as well.”
With the Chiefs failing to score again, the Raiders had opportunities to cut into the lead. But quarterback Derek Carr — who surpassed quarterback Ken Stabler to become the all-time franchise passing leader on Sunday — threw a pair of interceptions to end any threat.
Rookie running back Josh Jacobs started his team’s first possession of the third quarter with a 51-yard run. On first-and-goal from the 4, Carr fired a high pass to Tyrell Williams in the end zone. But cornerback Bashaud Breeland broke away from Williams’ route and made an easy interception.
Carr said the turnover resulted from a miscommunication between him and Williams. Carr said he signaled for Williams to run a fade route, initially stopping short of saying Williams missed the signal. But Carr confirmed that was the case when answering another question.
“We were just on a different page,” Carr said.
Carr took real issue with the second interception. On second-and-7 from the Oakland 47, wide receiver Ryan Grant was flagged for offensive pass interference after running into Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu. The Chiefs declined the penalty, since cornerback Charvarius Ward caught Carr’s pass intended for Grant, ending the Raiders’ drive.
Carr intimated that Grant may have caught the pass if he had not been interfered with by Mathieu. “They tackled our receiver, yet it’s a penalty on us,” Carr said.
“This is changing outcomes of a football game, right? That shouldn’t happen. That blows my mind. When things like that happen, I get a little upset.”
The Raiders never had another serious scoring threat, with the Chiefs using an 11-play drive to run out the last 6:25 of the fourth quarter.
Before the second-quarter gloom and doom, the Raiders scored on their first two possessions. Carr connected with tight end Derek Carrier and Williams for a pair of big gains before Daniel Carlson kicked a 28-yard field goal. Then the Raiders took advantage of a 43-yard defensive pass interference penalty to score their sole touchdown, a 4-yard pass from Carr to Williams.
But after that, the Raiders could never find a consistent rhythm on offense — their final points coming with 4:46 left in the first quarter.
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Contact Myles Simmons at msimmons@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @MylesASimmons on Twitter
