The Chiefs entered Monday’s game against the Raiders needing just a win to secure the club’s eighth consecutive AFC West title.
The Raiders made sure that didn’t happen.
With a terrific defensive performance, Las Vegas spoiled Kansas City’s Christmas Day with a 20-14 victory.
The Chiefs offense struggled all game long, but the contest turned on back-to-back offensive plays in the second quarter. Running back Isiah Pacheco and quarterback Patrick Mahomes fumbled an exchange deep in Kansas City territory after Pacheco had taken a direct snap, and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols returned the loose ball for an 8-yard touchdown.
Then on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, cornerback Jack Jones picked off a pass intended for Justin Watson and returned it 33 yards for a second defensive touchdown in seven seconds.
Down 17-7, the Chiefs had a shot to make it 17-10 going into halftime but Harrison Butker missed a 36-yard field goal.
Whatever could go wrong, seemed to go wrong for the Chiefs on offense. The club lost Pacheco to a concussion after his helmet came off on a play and he was kneed in the head by a teammate.
Las Vegas forced Kansas City to turn it over on offense twice in the second half — the second time coming in the fourth quarter with 9:47 left. On fourth-and-goal, Mahomes’ pass to Rashee Rice was knocked away.
The Chiefs finally got back on the board with a 7-yard touchdown on third-and-goal from Mahomes to Justin Watson with 2:42 left on the clock. But it was too little too late, as Raiders running back Zamir White took a 43-yard carry on the ensuing possession to force Kansas City to take its final timeout. And after another 15-yard run ahead of the two-minute warning, the Raiders took three knees to end the game.
The Chiefs defense gave up just six points. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell finished 9-of-21 for 62 yards, ending the game with 10 consecutive incompletions. But White — starting in place of an injured Josh Jacobs — paced the offense with 22 carries for 145 yards.
Mahomes, who was visibly frustrated throughout the contest, finished 27-of-44 for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Rice led with six catches for 57 yards. Kelce had five catches on seven targets for 44 yards.
While the Chiefs had 308 yards to the Raiders’ 205, Kansas City was just 5-of-16 on third down. Mahomes was sacked four times as Las Vegas racked up 10 quarterback hits. The defense also had seven tackles for loss, and five passes defensed.
Malcolm Koonce led the way with 3.0 sacks, four tackles for loss, and four total QB hits.
Kansas City’s defense had another strong performance wasted, as the team gave up just six points.
With Monday’s win, it’s hard to see how interim head coach Antonio Pierce wouldn’t get strong consideration for the Raiders’ permanent job. The team is now 4-3 under Pierce with a pair of division wins in the last two weeks.
At 7-8, Las Vegas also is still in contention for a playoff berth. The team will be at Indianapolis in Week 17 before finishing the year at home against Denver.
Now at 9-6, the Chiefs still can win the AFC West with a victory over the Bengals next week. But this does not look like a team that can seriously contend for a title — if it even wins a postseason game. This is the first time the Chiefs have lost at least six games with Mahomes as the starting quarterback.
Kansas City will finish the year on the road against the Chargers.