KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes knew the moment he walked into the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility at 1 Arrowhead Drive this week that the Las Vegas Raiders were coming to town. There was a different feeling, he said, one that reminded him of college.
Of those old-school rivalries that have seemingly gone by the wayside.
Just like Packers-Vikings and Cowboys-Eagles, the twice-annual matchup between the Raiders and Chiefs is filled with
vitriol, no matter the participants. Mahomes knows this from history. So does Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who has been a significant part of it for more than a decade now, and who has an eye-popping 20-4 mark against the Raiders since arriving in Kansas City.
“We understand the rivalry,” Reid said, “and our fans really understand the rivalry, and they get after it. Our players understand that, too. It’s a little bit of that college atmosphere to it, where you’ve had a team that you’ve had a rivalry with for many years, and you feel privileged to be a part of that.”
Raiders coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith? They're about to get an introduction to it Sunday.
Carroll and Reid have matched wits many times over the years, and Smith has faced Kansas City once before, losing as the QB in Seattle in 2022. But the circumstances will be different when it's red-and-yellow against silver-and-black.
“Just from afar, I mean, what I've witnessed is the Raiders seem to get up for the Chiefs,” Smith said. “I mean, no matter what the records are, it's always a close game. It's always a tough game, from what I've seen.”
The games may have been close. The series lately is not.
The Chiefs (3-3) have won eight of the last nine matchups over the past half-decade, and the lone loss on Christmas Day in 2023 was their last loss of the season; they won out on their way to a Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Chiefs are 12-point favorites to take care of business again, according to BetMGM, in part because they seem to be finding their stride. They just romped past the Detroit Lions, widely considered a Super Bowl contender, and they are poised to get wide receiver Rashee Rice back from his six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal-conduct policy.
The Raiders (2-4) just beat the lowly Tennessee Titans to snap a four-game losing streak.
“I don't see it as a rivalry, in that regard, the way that you're thinking of it,” Carroll said. “I mean, this is an opportunity against a team that has dominated a division for a long time, and you have to beat good teams if you're going to be any good, and you have to beat teams in your division if you're going to be any good. And so, it's a great opportunity for us.”
Not only is Rice coming off a suspension, the punishment for a high-speed car crash he caused on a Dallas highway in March 2024, he also is coming off a torn ACL that he suffered in Week 4 last season. Rice had surgery shortly thereafter, and he was on top of his rehab, allowing him to participate in the offseason program and throughout training camp.
“I think just having him in that room, you can just tell that those guys are energized,” Mahomes said, “and that they're ready to go, and they want to showcase who they are as a complete room.”
The Chiefs will likely be without left tackle Josh Simmons for a second consecutive week because of personal reasons, which popped up shortly before last week's win over Detroit. Jaylon Moore stepped in admirably for the first-round draft pick, helping Kansas City march up and down the field in the 30-17 victory over the Lions.
Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty is ninth in the league with 424 yards rushing through his first six games. The initial plan was to build up his carries over the course of the season, but the number spiked to a career-high 23 for 75 yards and a score last week against Tennessee. He also had a pair of catches in the 20-10 victory over the Titans.
“You’ve got to continue to wear the defense down and get those grittier runs,” Jeanty said, "and those are the ones that set up the big ones throughout the course of the game.”
While the Chiefs are poised to add Rice to a wide receiver corps that includes Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown, the biggest beneficiaries might be Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt. The Raiders will be paying even more attention to the passing game, and that could create opportunities for the ground game. Pacheco has four TDs in his last four games against Las Vegas.
The Raiders and Chiefs have a healthy rivalry. So do Mahomes and Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who are friends off the field and fierce competitors on it. They've been known to talk plenty of trash to each other, especially after the whistle sounds.
“He’s the type of competitor like me,” Mahomes said. “When you get on that football field it’s whatever it takes to win, and you’re going to leave everything on the football field, and I have a ton of respect for that.”
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