Kansas City’s Late Strike Clinches a Tough Win over the Las Vegas Raiders, 35-31

The Kansas City Chiefs escaped death against the Las Vegas Raiders, as their leader Patrick Mahomes once again took matters into his own hands. Following this touchdown pass to Travis Kelce, the Chiefs posted a 35-31 victory, their 9th of the season.

KC’s head coach Andy Reid told after the match was over that he fears nothing with Mahomes on the field.

“I’ve got Pat Mahomes,” Reid said. “You give me a minute and a half, and I’m pretty good right there. We can roll.”

The Chiefs didn’t have too many options, with the Raiders responding each time they’ve scored, constantly being ahead, and not giving up. However, with 28 seconds to go, Mahomes found Travis Kelce in the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown that would lift his team above the hosts. He would previously make six passes in seven attempts during the final 75-yard drive.

Las Vegas had a chance to respond and to repeat Arizona Cardinals’ victory against the Buffalo Bills, but Daniel Sorensen prevented that, picking Derek Carr on his first snap of the drive. Once Sorensen got the football, the entire Chiefs’ bench exploded. They not only won this very challenging contest but got even with the Raiders for the only loss of the season.

Mahomes ended the night with 348 yards, 34-of-45, for two scores and one pick. Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill were the most frequent targets, with both of them posting 100+yards and a touchdown. Kelce had 127, and Hill 102.

Chiefs’ running backs were not that productive, but very efficient when it comes to executing, with Clyde Edwards-Helaire posting two touchdowns and Le’Veon Bell one.

It is interesting to say that the opening four drives of Sunday’s event ended with touchdowns, and that there wasn’t a consecutive scoring from either side. The game witnessed the constant exchange of blows, and is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining in the entire campaign.

MAHOMES TO KELCE FOR THE LEAD 🔥

(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/a2dTBeDsCb

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 23, 2020

The Raiders were disappointed with the loss, but their game was looking very promising. They didn’t back out against the Super Bowl champions but tried to beat them with their own weapon – high-octane offense.

Derek Carr orchestrated the attack perfectly, and even though he had that one intercepted toss, it was in the moments when he had no choice but to throw risky passes. The Raiders QB generated 275 yards and three TD passes, one to Nelson Agholor, Darren Waller, and Jason Witten. The first two both had 88 yards. Josh Jacobs added a rushing TD with 55 yards.

Gruden was happy with the overall performance of his unit, emphasizing Carr’s impact on the field.

“It’s as good as you can play,” said Gruden. “He had four or five balls that were magnificent throws that we could’ve caught that we didn’t make the play on. He played tremendous tonight; he played almost flawless.”

Things in the AFC are heating up slowly, with the Pittsburgh Steelers leading the way in the standings with 10 wins and zero losses. The Chiefs are right behind but have a very nasty game coming up this week. The champs are visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady in the derby of the round.

After that, Mahomes and the boys come home to take on the AFC West rivals, the Denver Broncos.

The 6-4 Raiders have to away games, against the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets. Right now, they are at the seventh position in the AFC, the last one leading to the postseason.