3 takeaways from Raiders’ upset of Chiefs on Christmas Day
Three takeaways from the Raiders’ 20-14 victory over the Chiefs on Monday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium:
1. Dominant defense
The Raiders didn’t complete a pass after the first quarter and somehow found a way to make history in Kansas City.
Patrick Mahomes had been 19-0 against AFC West opponents after November and had never lost to a rookie quarterback.
Until Monday.
Aidan O’Connell completed just 9 of 21 passes and finished with 62 yards and a quarterback rating of 50.3, but a dominant defense made sure it was enough.
The Raiders (7-8) sacked Mahomes four times and came up with a huge fourth-down stop inside the 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Even more important, they harassed Mahomes all day.
Malcolm Koonce became the first player to sack Mahomes three times in a game, and he chased him out of the pocket several times.
Mahomes needed 44 attempts to throw for 235 yards and was never able to get fully comfortable in the Chiefs’ worst offensive showing against the Raiders since he took over as quarterback. They had scored at least 30 points in eight straight games against the Raiders.
Then, Zamir White closed the door for the offense. He broke off a 43-yard run when the Raiders needed a first down to run out the clock and finished with 145 yards rushing as he filled in for injured Josh Jacobs.
2. Setting the tone early
The Raiders made it known early they were going to make it difficult on the Kansas City offense.
They forced a three-and-out on the Chiefs’ first two possessions, something that had never happened to Mahomes in a home game in his career.
Each of those series included a sack, as the Raiders showed they planned to get right in his face all game. There was constant pressure, and the Raiders didn’t have to blitz much because the defensive line had its way with the Chiefs’ beleaguered offensive line.
The Chiefs (9-6) had minus-18 yards of offense in the first quarter and started the second quarter by finally getting a first down by way of a penalty.
3. Back to back
The Raiders scored defensive touchdowns on consecutive plays from scrimmage in the second quarter, covering a span of seven seconds.
It was a continuation of last week’s ball-hawking habits that saw the Raiders score twice on defense and turn five turnovers into 35 points.
The first was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time when the Chiefs tried to get tricky deep in their own territory. Running back Isiah Pacheco took a direct snap and was trying to hand it to Mahomes to start what appeared to be an option play with Richie James in motion behind him, but Pacheco held the ball too long and it dropped to the ground, where defensive tackle Bilal Nichols picked it up and walked in for an 8-yard touchdown.
That play gave the Raiders a 9-7 lead, and Jack Jones added to it seconds later with his second pick-six in two weeks.
Jones, whose comment about how to stop the Chiefs’ offense went viral this past week, backed up his words with a tremendous break on the ball and a sprint down the left sideline.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.