Sin City Raiders

Happy Victory Tuesday, Raider Nation. For the die-hard Raider fans, it was a very merry Christmas as the Silver and Black walked out of Arrowhead with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs; a feat that has become far too rare.

Not only were the Raiders on a six-game losing streak against the Chiefs, but a more expansive look at the recent history of this rivalry shows that in the Andy Reid era, Kansas City has handled the Raiders; often with ease. But not on Christmas Day 2023.

It had some of the makings of both a trap game and a get-right game. The Chiefs are in a rough patch where sloppy play and tough losses have dimmed the optimism of a now 9-6 team. The Raiders came in with a few extra days of rest coming off a historical blowout of the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football last week. However, the Raiders had to come into Arrowhead on a cold, December day in a game where the Chiefs could clinch yet another division title over their longtime rival and recent doormat. After all, just a month ago the Chiefs went into Allegiant and beat the Raiders 31-17. Again, not on Christmas Day 2023.

The Raider defense picked up where they left off against the Chargers; scoring another two touchdowns in a seven-second flurry. After enduring those struggles and a Travis Kelce helmet-spiking episode on the sideline, Patrick Mahomes continued to act as a one-man offense as he threw and scrambled to keep the Chiefs competitive in this one. Although he was sacked four times, he kept many plays alive with his mobility. Although he threw an interception (almost two) and was a part of the fumble the Raiders recovered for a touchdown, he drove the Chiefs down the field and with 2:42 to go, and on one of those extended plays where he avoided the pass rush, he threw a touchdown to make it a one-score game.

At this point, Raider Nation had every right to be concerned. Aidan O’Connell had not completed a pass since the first quarter and running the ball was predictable to defend for a Chief defense that had kept this game close by allowing zero offensive touchdowns. A highly-probable three-and-out would give Mahomes the ball back with no timeouts but about two minutes left and it looked like that was how this game would be decided. But again, not on Christmas Day 2023.

Mahomes would not get another chance. Zamir White took off on a 43-yard run that put the Raiders in field goal range. A kick would put them up by two scores. It would turn out that they wouldn’t even need to add those three points as White ran for another first down and with the Chiefs out of timeouts, all the Silver and Black had to do was line up in the victory formation at Arrowhead to seal the win.

The weekly re-occurring question for Raider Nation is whether or not Mark Davis should remove the interim tag and make Antonio Pierce the official head coach of the Raiders and this is one that has varied on a weekly basis.

At first, Pierce’s Raiders were 2-0 with wins over both the New York teams. It is worth noting that those New Yorkers played with backup quarterbacks, but it was exciting to see how the Raiders played and celebrated with victory cigars. The 2-0 start was followed with losses to the Dolphins, Chiefs and Vikings in an embarrassing 3-0 loss. But the roller-coaster would continue with a historically dominant win over the Chargers (which prompted the firing of their coach and general manager) and a win in Kansas City which will at least delay the Chiefs clinching another division title.

Pierce’s Raiders are now 4-3, still mathematically alive for the playoffs and AFC West and according to Paul Gutierrez at ESPN the defense has become a force. In seven games as Pierce’s Raiders, the Silver and Black are allowing 15.3 points per game and despite blitzing less, they are sacking the quarterback more.

Pierce spoke of how he wanted the Raiders to be physical against the Chiefs.

Referencing Paul Gutierrez again, Pierce said, “we talked about it all week. “Ill intent. Violence. Physicality. Pain. Enough is enough. I think that was displayed just right there.”

Those are some adjectives right there that sound like Pierce is describing the great Raider teams of the past that he grew up rooting for. Could he be describing great Raider teams of the future? With Coach Pierce at the helm? Was this win over the Chiefs at Arrowhead a Christmas miracle or the beginning of a new era of Raider football?

Right now, all we know for sure is that the Raiders just won, baby!