Chiefs / Raiders Preview – Done Deal or Still Fighting?

Chiefs / Raiders Preview – Done Deal or Still Fighting?

by Thomas Quaynor – NFL analyst for Wannamakeabet.com

The Kansas City Chiefs (13-3) go on the road to face the Las Vegas Raiders (6-10) in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. The Chiefs opened as a 6.5-point favorite, the line has jumped to 9.5. The Chiefs are coming off a 27-24 win against the Denver Broncos, their fourth straight win and 9th win in their last 10 games. 

The Raiders put up a valiant effort against the heavily favored San Francisco 49ers last week but lost 37-34 in overtime. The Chiefs escaped with a 30-29 win in the first meeting between these teams back in Week 5, continuing their dominance of the Las Vegas/Oakland Raiders franchise, they’ve won 9 of the last 10 in the series dating back to 2017. 

The Kansas City are about to wrap up another season of excellence, 2022 will be the 7th straight year they’ve won the AFC West and 8th straight year with double-digit wins. Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes has turned in another MVP-caliber season as he leads the NFL in yards (5,048), touchdowns (40) and QBR (77.8). 

Tight end Travis Kelce has also delivered another outstanding season with 104 catches (3rd in the NFL), 1,300 (8th among all pass catchers) and 12 touchdowns (2nd in the NFL). Running back Jerick McKinnon has been a key piece of the offense with 797 total yards and 10 touchdowns (8 receiving, 2 rushing). The Chiefs may have found a hidden gem in 7th round rookie running back Isiah Pacheco, he took over for an injured Clyde Edwards-Helaire and leads the Chiefs with 766 rushing yards. 

The Chiefs are battling the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills for the top seed in the AFC, that battle has become muddled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a heart attack during the first quarter of last Monday’s Bills-Bengals game and needed several minutes of CPR from EMS on the field before leaving in an ambulance. 

The game was canceled and will not be made up. Hamlin has made a remarkable recovery in the last 24 hours and is able to speak with his family in the hospital after being in critical condition for 3 days. The AFC Championship game could be played at a neutral location depending on the outcomes of certain Week 18 games. The NFL is still finalizing its plans for Buffalo and Cincinnati outcomes since both of them will end up playing 16 games instead of 17.

The Las Vegas Raiders looked to be a team in total disarray after they benched long-time starting QB Derek Carr in favor of the inexperienced Jarrett Stidham before last week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. An inexperienced, young quarterback facing the best defense in the NFL looked to be a total mismatch, but Jarrett Stidham was excellent in his first NFL start throwing for 365 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

The Raiders actually led by double digits at multiple times in the game. Have the Raiders stumbled upon Derek Carr’s replacement? Wide receiver Davante Adams had 11 catches for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns against the 49ers, his 1,443 yards ranks 3rd in the NFL and he leads the NFL with 14 touchdowns. Running back Josh Jacobs leads the NFL in rushing with 1,608 yards and could become the first Raider to lead the NFL in rushing since Marcus Allen in 1985. He’s listed as questionable for this game.   

The Chiefs are playing for home field advantage throughout the playoffs and the Raiders are playing for pride but Raiders-Chiefs is a historic rivalry and the Chiefs seem to have some trouble putting away inferior teams, I’ll take the points…Chiefs 27, Raiders 20