A month ago the Chiefs boat raced the Raiders in Las Vegas to go 8-3 on the season take a commanding lead in the AFC Playoff race. At that time, it seemed you could chalk up another win for the Chiefs when the Raiders came to Arrowhead on Christmas Day.
Since then things have taken a turn for both teams. The Chiefs have been very beatable and the Raiders defense has been extremely stingy and opportunistic.
These teams collided on that same trajectory and the result was a stunner with the Raiders defense almost singlehandedly taking down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs 20-14.
Top Baller: DE Malcolm Koonce
The third-year edge rusher has been on a tear of late. This one he put the Raiders on his back and put Partick Mahomes on his. Three times, in fact, which is the most sacks any single player has ever had on Mahomes in one game.
It’s befitting that the first play of the game was Koonce making a run stuff for no gain. It started a three-and-out. The next time the Chiefs got the ball, they again went three-and-out, with Koonce making the sack on third down.
The Chiefs’ third possession they would get a first down off of a holding. But two plays later Koonce made the tackle for loss and the Chiefs exited the field on the next play.
The final Chiefs’ drive he added a pressure for an incompletion and they would miss the field goal attempt to keep it 17-7 at the half.
The first two plays of the third quarter for the Chiefs saw Koonce make a run stop and then get his second sack of the game. It would end with a turnover on downs. Next possession, Koonce picked up his third sack and the Chiefs went three-and-out. Next drive he forced a holding penalty on a drive that led to another turnover on downs.
Late in the fourth quarter, he very nearly came up with his fourth sack of the game, but Mahomes just slipped out of his grasp and found his receiver for a TD to make it interesting late.
Top Buster: QB Aidan O'Connell
With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, O’Connell dumped the ball off to Ameer Abdullah for one yard on third-and-five, forcing the Raiders to settle for a field goal. That was the ninth and last completion of the game for O’Connell.
That’s right, he went the final full three quarters of football without completing a pass.
Early in the second quarter, the Raiders went three-and-out with O’Connell missing Davante Adams on all three plays. Too high on first down, behind him on a shallow cross on second down, and too long on a deep ball on third down.
A possession in the third quarter saw O’Connell throw behind Austin Hooper on a dump pass on first down and step right into a sack on third down. The next drive ended with O’Connell throwing behind a covered Adams on the left while missing an open Jakobi Meyers on the right side of the field.
He would finish 9 of 21 for 62 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and a career worst passer rating of 50.3.
Baller: RB Zamir White
This performance definitely came out of nowhere. White ran for 145 yards — more than twice his previous career high — on 22 carries and he literally carried the Raiders to the win in the end. They only had three decent offensive drives in the game and White was pivotal on all of them.
Their first scoring drive came midway through the first quarter and started with runs of five yards and six yards by White. They converted one third down on the drive and it was White going for four yards on third-and-two.
Their second scoring drive came in the third quarter. It began at the KC 42 off of a shanked punt. White ran for six yards, three yards, and 16 yards to put them in scoring range and they added another field goal to take a 20-7 lead.
When the Chiefs made it a one score game late, the Raiders needed a couple first downs to end it. They got them from White. The drive lasted three plays — all White runs. Six yards, then a 43-yard burst to put them in range to have the option of ending it with a field goal, then a 15-yard run to end it with victory plays instead.
Busters: C Andre James, RT Jermaine Eluemunor
James ended the Raiders’ first possession quickly. He got pushed back to give up a run stuff on first down. Then gave up the sack on second down. The screen attempt on third down was blown up to force a three-and-out.
The Raiders got the ball to start the third quarter, White was stopped for one yard on the right side of the line while Eluemunor blocked no one. Then a couple plays later, he gave up pressure in O’Connell’s face which led to the ball being batted down. The possession ended on the next play.
The next possession was another three-and-out. On third down, Eluemunor again gave up pressure on the right edge. When O’Connell tried to escape it, he stepped right into a sack.
James would give up a tackle for loss in the fourth quarter as well.
Ballers: CB Jack Jones, DT Bilal Nichols
The biggest plays of the game were the two defensive touchdowns that came within seven seconds of each other in the second quarter.
The Raiders were down 7-3 after the Chiefs drove for a touchdown. They then punted after five plays to give it right back to the Chiefs. On the first play, Patrick Mahomes fumbled the handoff, Nichols scooped it up, and ran it eight yards for the score.
Following the kickoff, the Chiefs went back to work. And just like the previous possession, it lasted one play and resulted in a Raiders score. This time it was Mahomes throwing to the right sideline where Jack Jones perfectly jumped the pass and returned it 33 yards to the house, staring down Mahomes on his way by.
This turned a 7-3 Chiefs into a 17-7 Raiders lead.
Nichols added a couple run stuffs and a pressure leading to a near interception.
Buster: WR Davante Adams
In most cases, the problem was not him. O’Connell was wildly off target in his passes to Adams most of the day. Leading to him having just one catch for four yards. But he did make a couple crucial mistakes.
On the first long drive by the Raiders in the first quarter, they reached the 12-yard line. And the next play, O’Connell threw a pass into the left flat to Tre Tucker. But Adams missed the block, leading to Tucker getting blown up for a four-yard loss. They couldn’t get it back and settled for a field goal.
Next possession was a three-and-out where O’Connell couldn’t seem to connect with Adams on three bad passes. The next time they saw the ball, O’Connell did make one of his few good passes. It was a back shoulder throw for Adams and he dropped it.
Baller: WR Jakobi Meyers
While Adams was not catching and not blocking, Meyers was doing a good bit of both.
The first first down of the game was a six-yard run by Zamir White with Meyers making the key block on the play. That drive would go for a score and the two biggest plays were Meyers catches. One for 13 yards and the other for 16 yards on a screen. In total he had three catches on that drive for 42 yards.
Since O’Connell didn’t complete another pass in the game, that was it for Meyers in the receiving game. But Meyers did have one more big block. And it was on the biggest play of the game for the Raiders’ offense — the 43-yard White run that all but sealed the win.
Baller: DE Maxx Crosby
Even without any sacks, Crosby still had a major impact. He had a tackle for loss on the second play of the game. He had a QB hit that led to an incompletion on the third Chiefs’ possession and another one on the Chiefs’ final drive of the second quarter.
His pressures helped lead to Koonce getting his second and third sacks of the game. The third one, Crosby was held, but it was declined in favor of the sack.
Crosby would get into the backfield four times in the fourth quarter leading to a pressure on a near interception, a two-yard stop on a Mahomes scramble, a two-yard stop on screen pass, and a run stuff for no gain.
Baller: S Tre'von Moehrig
I don’t care what the officials say, that was an interception. Even after review, it looked like an interception. And it was a gorgeous one at that. Laying out toward to sideline, getting *both* hands under it. What was initially ruled a pick, should have stood. Great play regardless.
Moehrig also made a pass breakup in the back of the end zone on the Chiefs’ second to last offensive play to lead the team with two pass breakups in the game and no catches allowed.
As he said after the game; “Grinch stole Christmas mf”
