Who knows how long it will continue. But for at least one day, the Chiefs looked like an absolute juggernaut against the Raiders in a 31-0 victory.
Kansas City took the proverbial belt to the rear end of Las Vegas from start to finish. The Chiefs had three first-half drives, each of which went for a touchdown. Then the club started the second half with another long touchdown drive to go up 28-0, effectively putting the game out of reach.
The first four possessions lasted nine, 17, 16, and 11 plays and went 92, 84, 94, and 65 yards.
Harrison Butker then put a 38-yard field goal through the uprights to cap a nine-play, 66-yard drive to put the Chiefs up by 31 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
That was the end of Patrick Mahomes’ day, as Gardner Minshew came in for mop-up work. Mahomes finished 26-of-35 passing for 286 yards with three touchdowns. He also rushed four times for 28 yards.
Rashee Rice looked good in his return, catching the first touchdown of the day on a 2-yard pop pass. He also caught a 3-yard touchdown at the end of the second quarter to give his team a 21-0 advantage. He finished with seven catches on 10 targets for 42 yards.
Travis Kelce had three catches for 54 yards.
The Chiefs finished with 30 first downs to the Raiders’ three. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid truly called off the dogs late in the fourth quarter, electing to take a knee on three straight plays with a drive starting north of the two-minute warning.
Per the CBS broadcast, the last time a team finished with just three first downs was in 2008, when the Raiders lost 24-0 to the Falcons.
Kansas City had 434 yards to Las Vegas’ 96, ran 77 plays to Las Vegas’ 30, and was 9-of-15 on third down to Las Vegas’ 0-of-7.
Given those team numbers, the Raiders’ individual numbers were unsurprisingly anemic. Geno Smith was 10-of-16 for 67 yards. Kenny Pickett came in at the end of the game and was 2-of-2 for 8 yards. He also lost a fumble.
Ashton Jeanty had just 21 yards on six carries.
This was the first regular-season shutout victory of Reid’s long head coaching career.
Now at 4-3, the Chiefs will next host the Commanders next Monday night.
The 2-5 Raiders will have to live with the stench of this ugly game for an extra week, as they’ll be on a bye in Week 8 before hosting the Jaguars in Week 9.
