Raiders suffer tough, last-minute loss to Chiefs. But here’s the bright side
Despite a Sunday night loss that was way tougher than your average defeat, the schedule looks favorable for the Las Vegas Raiders down the stretch.
And the Raiders remain in the mix for a playoff spot.
After dropping to 6-4, the Raiders sit in seventh place in the overall AFC standings as Las Vegas fell at home to the Kansas City Chiefs 35-31.
The top seven teams will advance to the NFL playoffs.
Next up for the Raiders are the Atlanta Falcons, who will host Las Vegas on Nov. 29 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons are 3-7, but still present a challenge because of quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones.
After the trip to Atlanta, the Raiders visit the New York Jets (0-10) on Dec. 6.
The next four games from there include three straight home games against the Indianapolis Colts (7-3), Los Angeles Chargers (3-7) and Miami Dolphins (6-4). The Raiders wrap up the regular season with a trip to Denver to face the Broncos (4-6).
Here is a look at some of the in-game highlights.
Bitter ending for Raiders
That’s it, with Derek Carr’s desperation heave getting picked off.
The Chiefs run out the clock and beat the Raiders 35-31.
Carr finishes 23 of 31 for 275 yards and three touchdowns.
Patrick Mahomes goes 34 for 45 for 348 yards and two TDs, as Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill both topped 100 yards receiving,
The Chiefs are 9-1 and well on their way to making a run at a repeat Super Bowl championship.
Las Vegas falls to 6-4 but remains very much in the wildcard hunt.
Chiefs turn it around
It’s quickly gone from a thrilling rally to a potentially crushing loss.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce hooked up for a 22-yard touchdown pass and catch, as the Chiefs take a 35-31 lead with under a minute to play.
It seemed to be a little too easy, with Kansas City going 75 yards on seven plays in just 75 seconds.
Comeback kids?
And we may have the first instant classic of the Las Vegas/Allegiant Stadium era for the Raiders.
Jason Witten, of all possible players, caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to give Las Vegas a 31-28 lead with 1:43 to play.
Still, a lot of time left for Patrick Mahomes to practice a little magic of his own.
Time for Raiders (and bettors) to sweat
Le’Veon Bell’s 6-yard run and the subsequent PAT gave the Chiefs a 28-24 lead in a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
That’s 52 total points in a game in which the over/under was anywhere from 55 to 57, depending on when bettors made their wagers.
There is under 6 minutes remaining for the Raiders to come up with some magic in their first-year home.
Derek Carr, Raiders with an answer
Trailing for the first time, Las Vegas marched 75 yards in 11 plays before Derek Carr connected with Darren Waller for a 3-yard touchdown pass. The PAT makes it 24-21 Raiders.
It came 6 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Raiders’ 6-minute, 29-second drive followed a long Chiefs drive as the teams quickly chewed through the third-quarter clock, with each team getting just one drive in the period.
Chiefs with the long, go-ahead TD drive
Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored on a 14-yard touchdown run and with the extra point the Chiefs are ahead for the first time, 21-17 late in the third quarter.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes directed a 16-play drive that covered 93 yards and trimmed 8:37 off the clock.
Finally, a defensive stop, sort of
After the teams scored touchdowns on each of their first two scoring drives, Las Vegas settled for Daniel Carlson’s 35-yard field goal and a 17-14 lead.
A couple of actual defensive stands followed, as both teams had drives that went almost nowhere and were forced to punt.
Last team with the ball?
Four drives. Four touchdowns.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire runs it in from 3 yards and the Chiefs and Raiders are tied 14-14 with 11:16 remaining in the first half.
Bettors who wagered over on the over/under total, which generally landed at 56.5 or 57 (depending on the oddsmaker or gambling site) as the game kicked off, are feeling good.
Derek Carr earns Collinsworth praise
Derek Carr received a “ton of credit,” from NBC color man Cris Collinsworth after the Raiders quarterback hit Nelson Agholor for a go-ahead touchdown pass to end the first quarter.
Carr semi-faked out the Kansas City Chiefs, acting like he might let the quarter clock expire, only to rush up and get the defense to jump offsides and create a free play.
The freebie wasn’t needed, as Carr lofted the ball perfectly to Agholor, who had beaten his man but needed a little footwork to make sure he got his second foot down in bounds.
A few minutes earlier, though, Collinsworth had talked of Carr being on the verge of falling into the “fringe” player category amid some inconsistency in the 2017-18 seasons.
Chiefs answer with a TD
Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a touchdown on their opening drive, answering the Raiders’ scoring drive.
It was the Tyreek Hill show, with the fifth-year wide receiver hauling in all five of his targets for 37 yards, including the 3-yarder for the TD.
The Raiders and Chiefs are tied 7-7 with 4 minutes still to go in the first quarter of a game many predicted would be a high-scoring affair.
Raiders strike first
Derek Carr hit two long pass plays on the opening possession.
His first long strike went to Darren Waller for 26 yards and another to Nelson Agholor for 29 yards.
Josh Jacobs topped the impressive drive, which took just 3:35, with a 2-yard touchdown run.
The pass to Waller came on third-and-5, just after NBC lead announcer Al Michaels noted that the Raiders are No. 1 in the NFL in third-down efficiency.
Who won the coin toss?
The Chiefs won the toss and deferred, giving the Raiders offense the first chance to grab momentum.
Kansas City will get the ball to open the second half.
NBC crew members make predictions
Mike Tirico picked the Raiders to win, but he said he was giving his five other colleagues a “gift,” since he’s ahead in the picks standings (6-4) on Sunday night football.
The other analysts are sitting below .500 on their picks.
Raiders’ inactive list
Among the Raiders inactives is running back Jalen Richard.
Richard left last week’s game against the Denver Broncos because of a chest injury.
Also inactive is tackle Sam Young, who started five games for the Raiders.
Other inactives include defensive tackles Maurice Hurst and Daniel Ross, guard John Simpson, quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Lamarcus Joyner back on COVID list
Raiders’ slot cornerback Lamarcus Joyner was returned to the reserve/COVID-19 list Sunday morning.
He had been taken off on Friday after contact tracing.
It is unknown if Joyner tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Raiders activated offensive lineman Jaryd Jones-Smith.
Chiefs release hype video
As if this matchup can’t get any more exciting, the Chiefs’ social media team released a video on Saturday, using the Raiders’ 40-32 victory over the Chiefs earlier in the year as the starting point.
Scenes ranged from national analysts weighing in on the “victory lap” the Raiders took around Arrowhead Stadium after that Week 5 victory to Jon Gruden’s news conference from this past week to highlights of past Chiefs’ success against the Raiders.
What channel is the Raiders Chiefs game on?
The game will be seen nationally on NBC and in the Fresno area, shown on KSEE 24.
The “Football Night in America” pregame show got underway at 4 p.m.
This marks the Raiders’ first prime-time game on NBC this season.
How to stream Raiders-Chiefs
If you’re not in front of your television, you can watch the game at NBCSports.com and via the NBC Sports app on desktops, mobile and tablets.
The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from the NBC broadcast.
The NBC Sports app is available via the Apple App Store and Google Play, as well as the Windows Store and Roku Channel Store and on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox and Chromecast.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 4:14 PM.
