Raiders get physical, make statement with upset of Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — By no means did the Raiders steal possession of the AFC West torch by storming into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and beating the Chiefs 20-14 on Monday.
After more than a decade of dominance by the Chiefs, it will take more than a Christmas Day win to loosen their stranglehold on a division that dates back to the birth of the old AFL.
But by heeding the weeklong mandate from their interim coach to be the more physical team and keep the Chiefs from celebrating their eighth straight division title, the Raiders might have taken a big step in closing the gap between themselves and the defending Super Bowl champions.
And they did it on their terms.
“Ill intent. Violence. Physicality. Pain,” said Antonio Pierce, who is building a strong case for himself as the Raiders’ full-time coach.
In the process, they kept their slim playoff hopes alive. Now 7-8, the Raiders can give themselves a shot by sweeping the Colts and Broncos in the next two weeks.
But it all started with exorcising some demons in the house of horrors Arrowhead Stadium has been to them over the years.
“It’s incredible,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said. “Every time we come out here, especially in Arrowhead, we know we’re gonna have to fight and claw, and that’s what everybody did out here. So proud of everybody involved. It’s a beautiful day.”
Not by standing toe to toe with the Chiefs and trading touchdowns and fancy plays. It was apparent all week the Raiders weren’t bracing for that kind of party.
“We knew it would be a gritty game,” Pierce said. “It wasn’t going to be high scoring. We didn’t want it to be a high-scoring game.”
Instead, Pierce urged his team to drag the Chiefs into a game played on the Raiders’ terms. Then they delivered a series of punishing body blows with a relentless pass rush and run defense, digging deep to come up with multiple defensive stops, including two defensive touchdowns on back-to-back plays from scrimmage to build a lead and maintain it.
“We had a mindset and a mentality,” cornerback Nate Hobbs said.
Added cornerback Amik Robertson: “We came in and took it.”
Then, when they absolutely had to find a way to close the game after Patrick Mahomes’ 7-yard touchdown throw to Justin Watson pulled the Chiefs to within six points with 2:42 left, the Raiders handed the ball to second-year back Zamir White and ran the ball down the throats of a battered and bruised Kansas City defense.
White, starting for the second straight week for injured Josh Jacobs, ran for a career-high 145 yards, including a 43-yard run to the Kansas City 26, then a 15-yarder to the 11 at the two-minute warning. The Chiefs, out of timeouts, could only watch as the Raiders took a knee on three straight plays to end the game.
It wasn’t pretty. Young quarterback Aidan O’Connell threw for just 62 yards, and the offense never crossed the Chiefs’ goal line.
But it was as satisfying a win as the Raiders have managed in years. Not through style points and piling up yards, but through resolve and fortitude and a defense that has grown up under second-year coordinator Patrick Graham.
In other words, all the attributes they have lacked for years.
“By any means necessary,” is how Pierce put it.
The game turned in a span of seven seconds late in the second quarter, when the Raiders scored the two defensive touchdowns to take a 17-7 lead.
Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols recovered a fumble by Isiah Pacheco and ran 8 yards for a score with 4:55 left in the half. Jack Jones, the cornerback the Raiders stole off waivers from the Patriots this season, then intercepted Mahomes and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown with 4:48 left.
The Raiders sacked Mahomes four times, three by Malcolm Koonce, and harassed him all game to limit the two-time Super Bowl champion to 235 yards passing with 5.3 yards per pass average.
Hobbs and linebacker Robert Spillane combined for 22 tackles. The Raiders held the Chiefs (9-6) to 5 of 16 on third downs.
“We knew what type of game this was going to be, so we said we’ve got to come out physical, we got to come out hitting, and they got to feel us every play,” Jones said.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
