KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Chiefs beat the Raiders handily Sunday. A 40-9 final score proves that point.
The Chiefs obviously had a huge hand in that. So did the Silver and Black, who did an excellent job beating themselves.
The Raiders committed 12 penalties for 99 yards. They committed three turnovers.
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It was a disaster through and through, one that could’ve been mitigated by smart, disciplined play.
“Don’t get me wrong. They’re a good team,” center Rodney Hudson said. “They won the ballgame, but we did make mistakes that hurt us. We didn’t help ourselves today.”
Raiders mistakes were almost always costly. Quarterback Derek Carr threw two interceptions. One was a pick-six and the other lead to the Chiefs' first touchdown. The Raiders got off the field three times on third down, only to have penalties extended the drives and lead to touchdowns shortly after. Trayvon Mullen’s interception in the end zone came on a third-and- 8, but it was overturned with a pass interference penalty levied on replay, and the Chiefs scored a few plays after that.
All those mistakes proved overwhelming and insurmountable in a game where much had to go right to give the Raiders a chance.
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“There were a lot of mistakes we made on offense and with penalties that hurt us in the end,” running back Josh Jacobs said. “The outcome of the game looks a lot worse than what it was. If you look at the total yardage and all of that, we did better than them.”
Jacobs is right. The Raiders out-gained Kansas City 332-259. The Chiefs had but one explosive play. All-world Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was only so-so. The Raiders' run game was going strong, especially in the first half.
None of it mattered because they simply couldn’t score. The Raiders didn’t cross the goal line until garbage time, and they kept giving Kansas City easy buckets.
Carr had two picks. Trevor Davis lost a fumble returning a kick and couldn’t convert on a fourth-down jet sweep despite an obvious opportunity to turn upfield and get past the sticks. That’s two giveaways from one skill player, unacceptable play by any standard.
[RELATED: Jacobs becomes first Raiders rookie to eclipse 1,000-yard mark]
Head coach Jon Gruden’s didn’t hesitate when describing his greatest disappointment after Sunday’s game.
“Our inability to stay away from penalties and put ourselves in horrible positions,” he said. “I think we had four defensive false starts. We had turnovers in the kicking game. We had a pick-six. We just never found our rhythm at all. That is disappointing, but I know where we are. I know where they are as a football team. We have work to do, and we’re going to continue to try and catch the Chiefs.”