As a Chiefs fan born in 1996, my perspective of the Kansas City Chiefs’ and Las Vegas Raiders’ storied rivalry is unique. My first ever Arrowhead experience was Raiders week in November of 2006. Larry Johnson had a huge game, and Trent Green led the offense on a 50-yard touchdown drive with under five minutes to play. Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker hauled in receptions for big chunks on the go-ahead scoring drive, but it was safety Jarrad Page who stole the spotlight. He slipped under a Randy Moss curl route at the goal line, reeled in an interception with 30 seconds left on the clock, and sealed up a victory for the Chiefs.
As exciting and vivid as the memory of my first game is, the dramatic 13-17 finish that day was the peak of my exuberance for the Chiefs and Raiders rivalry. Since then, the Chiefs are 20-11 against the Raiders, and, more prominently, since Andy Reid took over as head coach in 2013, Kansas City is 15-3 against Las Vegas. I’ve spent my entire adolescence and adulthood knowing nothing but the Chiefs’ dominance over the Raiders. Ahead of this year’s primetime edition of Raiders week, I thought a deep dive into Andy Reid’s ownership of the Chiefs’ oldest rival would be fun.
To Derek Carr‘s credit, two of the Raiders’ three victories over the Chiefs since 2013 have come in primetime games, and I am willing to admit that he tends to show up when the lights are on. Carr even went 25-35 for 261 passing yards and 2 touchdowns when the Chiefs beat the Raiders 41-14 on Sunday Night Football last season. Not a bad day at the office by any means, just a bit slouchy in comparison to the day that Patrick Mahomes had—35 completions for 406 yards and five TDs—which led the way to the Chiefs’ win.