Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ dominant win vs. Raiders
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs crushed Raiders 31-0 at Arrowhead, asserting dominance in all phases.
- Rashee Rice converted goal-line chances and produced multiple critical plays.
- Kansas City closed games earlier, avoiding last-minute magic needed in 2024.
The Chiefs are a better than .500 football team.
It took seven weeks to describe them that way, and it took an unusual path to arrive there, but the point is they are starting to look more familiar.
In results.
And in play.
They crushed the Raiders 31-0 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, a game that was never remotely competitive.
Here are five observations from immediately after the game:
1. Rashee Rice is back
The Chiefs were determined to get Rashee Rice into the end zone, force-feeding him inside the 5-yard line.
He got there twice.
The Chiefs’ offense is moving it well enough that it’s back to deciding who scores.
Patrick Mahomes handed Rice the ball in the backfield on the opening drive — OK, technically, a pass — and Rice worked through traffic for a 2-yard touchdown. He actually got face-masked on the play, which is part of the point.
It’s really hard to stop Rice after the catch, no matter what you know or what you try.
Rice later found the end zone again, a back-shoulder throw that this particular quarterback doesn’t like to make frequently. It’s telling he feels comfortable making it to Rice.
More telling? He threw him a no-look pass for another first down.
Rice finished his first game in a year with seven catches for 42 yards and the two touchdowns.
2. Why a win against a bad team matters
It’s hard to make much out of demolishing a bad football team.
Or is it?
The Chiefs won 12 one-possession games last season. It was remarkable. It was a heck of a feat.
It was also telling: They struggled to put away bad teams.
A date with the Raiders is a different challenge than the Lions presented a week earlier. But it is still a challenge, and it’s one the Chiefs struggled with a year ago.
They used late-game magic — a blocked kick, a heel out of bounds, three different game-winning field-goal kickers, a dropped snap — to win games.
This year? They beat up on a team they should have beat up, from start to finish. They didn’t need the magic.
Kansas City’s backup QB, Gardner Minshew, jogged onto the field before the third quarter was exhausted.
3. Oh, yeah. The defense.
Want to know how good the Chiefs’ offense was?
It’s taken me this long to even mention the other side of the football, and that side of the football was literally perfect.
The Chiefs recorded their first regular-season shutout since 2011. Think of this: defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had never had a shutout with the Chiefs.
The Raiders finished with three first downs. The Chiefs had never allowed fewer than five first downs in a game, which conveniently enough also came against the Raiders — but the Oakland Raiders back in 1997.
Let’s be honest here. The Chiefs’ offense found itself on the right side of some bounces. A deflected third-and-long pass settled into the hands of KC receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. A Hollywood Brown fumble bounced into the hands of his fellow wideout, Xavier Worthy.
The offense was terrific. They also had a couple of things go their way.
The defense didn’t need a bounce.
4. Andy Reid at his best
The Chiefs have charted a league-best success rate against zone coverage this season, per Next Gen Stats. The Raiders love to play zone.
Guess what? The Chiefs burned them.
Andy Reid burned them.
At some point, he was just toying with them. The Chiefs’ head coach telegraphed an opening-drive play. The return of Rashee Rice equated the return of the bubble screen. The Raiders saw it coming.
But when they thought they sniffed out another receiver screen, Mahomes pump-faked it, only to spring Noah Gray loose down the sideline to set up the first touchdown.
One quarter later, he lined running back Brashard Smith out wide, and gave him a screen that gained a first down.
Reid kept the Las Vegas defense on its collective heels all day.
Mahomes threw to nine different receivers, and all of them had at least one catch. It’s a rare combination when the quarterback throws for nearly 300 yards and not a single receiver totals more than 54.
5. Short yardage
Patrick Mahomes fooled the Raiders into a fourth-down conversion. Baited them into thinking the Chiefs wouldn’t actually snap the ball, and then he did, and then Kareem Hunt rushed for a first down.
A nice trick.
But don’t let it distract you too — the Chiefs haven’t needed tricks to convert short yardage.
For a change.
Last season, the Chiefs turned only 61.4% of third- or fourth-and-short plays (1 or 2 yards to go) into first downs. This year, they’re at 74%.
And they were at their best Sunday.
They were greeted with third- or fourth-and-short seven times in the initial three quarters. They gained first downs on six of the seven — on Hunt rushes, but also on passes to Rice and Hollywood Brown. The only one they missed?
They got it on fourth down anyway. It set up the trick I mentioned.
This story was originally published October 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM.