Chiefs Beat Raiders to take the Lead in the AFC West

The NFL weekend started off with a key game in the AFC West, with the Oakland Raiders visiting the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs came into the game with a 9-3 record, while the Raiders were 10-2. Kansas City beat Oakland earlier this season, so a Chiefs victory would put them in 1st place on the basis of the first tiebreaker.

The Raiders took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Chiefs had a big 2nd quarter, cranking out three touchdowns to take a 21 -3 lead. Oakland scored a touchdown just before the end of the half to make it 21-10 at halftime. The Chiefs didn’t score again, but the Kansas City defense held the Raiders to one field goal in the third quarter. Kansas City won 21-13, to move into first in the AFC West.

Rookie Tyreek Hill led the way for Kansas City with a 36 yard touchdown reception and a 78 yard punt return for a touchdown. The 5th round pick out of West Alabama is an exciting player, who also is a threat as a running back. He reminds us of the Packers’ Randall Cobb. Travis Kelce had five receptions for 101 yards. QB Alex Smith completed 17 of 26 passes for 264 yards. On the other side, Raiders QB Derek Carr was pretty much shut down with his poorest performance of the season, completing 17 of 41 passes for 117 yards and no touchdowns. The most positive aspect of his performance was that he threw no interceptions for only the second time this season.

The Raiders remaining games are at San Diego, at home against Indianapolis, and at Denver to close out the regular season. The Chiefs host the Titans and Broncos, and finish at San Diego.