What we learned about Kansas City Chiefs in wacky 19-17 win vs. Las Vegas Raiders
The Kansas City Chiefs’ close-playing ways against inferior opponents will likely catch up with them at some point.
But Friday wasn’t that day — even with Las Vegas exposing many weaknesses in the Chiefs’ 19-17 home victory at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
In the end, the Chiefs’ defense came up with two late stops, which included Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson’s potential 58-yard go-ahead field goal landing short with 2 minutes, 21 seconds left.
After a punt, Las Vegas got it back with 1:56 left inside its own 10 before it drove back into field-goal range at the KC 32.
But the lowly Raiders messed up this chance, too. An early snap to quarterback Aidan O’Connell resulted in a fumble, with the Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton recovering with 11 seconds left.
The Chiefs — who entered the Black Friday game as 13-point home favorites — have a whole lot to fix after this one.
Start with left tackle. Starter Wanya Morris played so poorly that coach Andy Reid benched him in the fourth quarter, moving left guard Joe Thuney to left tackle while inserting Mike Caliendo into the game.
Move on to coverage. Chiefs cornerback Nazeeh Johnson was replaced in the first quarter after a blown assignment, with Joshua Williams going in for him.
KC still made O’Connell look like the type of quarterback he’s never been in his career. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, five of the longest six completions by air yardage of O’Connell’s career came Friday against the Chiefs’ struggling secondary.
The Chiefs led 10-3 at halftime while battling through familiar offensive issues.
In particular, KC allowed constant pressure around the left side, with Morris surrendering four pressures and a sack on 19 pass dropbacks, via Pro Football Focus’ in-game charting.
Mahomes still came through in important moments while sidestepping the pass rush, most notably finding Justin Watson for a 6-yard, second-quarter touchdown pass while getting hit in the pocket.
That drive was only extended thanks to some Travis Kelce magic. On an earlier third-and-10, the Chiefs tight end caught a pass and was about to be tackled, only to fling a lateral to running back Samaje Perine, who picked up 10 more yards on the 15-yard play.
Kelce finished with seven catches for 68 yards.
O’Connell, meanwhile, was 23 for 35 for 340 passing yards.
The Raiders lost despite averaging 6.9 yards per play to the Chiefs’ 4.9.
The Chiefs (11-1) will play at home against the Los Angeles Chargers at 7:20 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, Dec. 8.
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 5:28 PM.
