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With a chance to take sole possession of first-place in the AFC West, the Las Vegas Raiders were trampled by the Kansas City Chiefs, 41-14 Sunday, Nov. 14 from Allegiant Stadium.
After a shaky start, the Chiefs return to the top of the AFC West while the Raiders drop to third place having already lost to the second-place Los Angeles Chargers this season.
Las Vegas sits in third-place with a 5-4 overall record but a 1-2 division record. Moreover, the team is 2-2 under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.
The Raiders will stay in town and prepare for a Sunday, Nov. 21 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. from Allegiant Stadium.
Mistakes reared its ugly head and proved to be the difference in the loss for Las Vegas.
It started early in the game when backup quarterback Marcus Mariota entered the game on a 4th and inches but the offense was moved back after a false start penalty.
The Raiders would go on to punt the ball away.
Eleven plays later, the home team found itself down on the scoreboard.
On the ensuing drive, Las Vegas suffered another false start penalty; this time it would turn a third and three into a third and eight.
At the conclusion of that drive, the Raiders would punt again.
The penalties weren’t just on the offensive side of the ball as an encroachment penalty by defensive tackle Solomon Thomas turned a third and six into a third and short for the Kansas City offense.
The Chiefs would be stopped on third down but keep the drive going on a fourth down conversion before capping off a 10 play drive with another touchdown to go up by 10.
The Raiders avoided going into halftime down much more after going three-and-out on the next drive, punting the ball back to the Chiefs after ticking just 37 seconds off the clock.
Kansas City missed a field goal before heading into halftime with a chance to go up by 13.
The mistakes didn’t get better in the second half as defensive lineman Maxx Crosby was flagged for a late hit penalty on a third and goal from the nine yard-line.
The Chiefs scored on that drive after carrying out a 13-play, 82-yard drive.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes torched the Las Vegas defense for 406 yards and five touchdowns, completing 35 of his 50 pass attempts.
Two Chief receivers posted 100-yard days while wide receiver Tyreek Hill came pretty close.
Tight end Travis Kelce recorded 119 yards on eight catches while running back Darrel Williams tallied 101 yards on nine catches including a stellar touchdown grab over Raiders’ safety Johnathan Abram.
Hill accounted for 83 yards on seven receptions but had two touchdown grabs.
The wheels began to come off in the third quarter as newly-signed wide receiver DeSean Jackson made his first catch for the Raiders only to have the ball punched loose for a fumble.
At that time, Las Vegas was driving down-the-field with a chance to cut the deficit to one possession.
That same quarter, Raiders’ quarterback Derek Carr would throw his lone interception of the game.
Kansas City scored on the backend of both of those turnovers to break the game wide open, even using a fake punt early in the fourth quarter to keep its foot on Las Vegas’ neck.
It wasn’t all bad for the Raiders as it finally had some red zone success with Carr finding wide receiver Hunter Renfrow for a touchdown in the second quarter to tie the game at seven.
The team was set up in that position after Kansas City defensive back Rashad Fenton was called for a pass interference call on Las Vegas wide receiver Bryan Edwards.
Additionally, the Raiders got the ball in good field position after punter A.J. Cole forced a fumble on a 37-yard punt return from Chiefs’ defensive back Mike Hughes.
Carr would strike for another touchdown in the second half on a 37-yard strike to Edwards, who had 88 yards on three catches.
Renfrow led the team with seven receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Leading receiver at the tight end position Darren Waller was held to just 24 yards on four catches after being held to just two through the first three quarters.
He had a touchdown taken off the board after another penalty on offensive lineman Brandon Parker, this time for holding.
That penalty forced a turnover on downs.
A relatively healthy Raiders team got banged up in this game losing at least three players throughout the course of the game for a period of the contest or the remainder.
Defensive back Brandon Facyson left in the first quarter favoring his left arm, resulting in backup Desmond Trufant being thrust in front of KC speedster Hill.
Mahomes targeted that matchup for the game’s first touchdown in the first quarter.
Facyson would return and finish with six tackles, four solo.
In the third quarter, third-string running back Jalen Richard injured his ribs on a kick return and would not return.
To that point, fullback Alec Ingold had already exited the game after being injured earlier.