Raiders' defense leads stunning upset of Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

It's always explosive when the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders meet up. But amid frustrations and the heat of division rivalry, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs couldn't create offensive fireworks in their 20-14 loss on Christmas Day.

Las Vegas didn't have a stellar offensive outing, recording its only points on a pair of Daniel Carlson field goals. It didn't matter because the Raiders' defense was on fire, scoring two touchdowns on Chiefs turnovers to pull off the surprising win.

After the holiday loss, the Chiefs are 9-6 and out of the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They can still win the AFC West with another victory. They next face the Cincinnati Bengals in a rematch of the last two AFC championship games on New Year's Eve at home. Kansas City will then visit the Los Angeles Chargers for its regular-season finale.

The Raiders are 7-8 and face some interesting playoff odds going forward. They went into Monday's game as the No. 12 seed in the AFC. They would need to win out while the Chiefs lose out to win the division. Vegas' remaining games will see the team travel to face the Indianapolis Colts before they host the Denver Broncos.

As for Monday's game, the Chiefs' first possessions of Monday's holiday showdown were indicative of problems to come. Their initial drives were back-to-back three-and-outs, a first to begin a game in the Mahomes era. By the end of the first quarter, the offense had recorded minus-18 yards. No team had recorded fewer yards in a first quarter since the then-St. Louis Rams, who had minus-20 yards in the early period of their 31-7 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 19, 2004.

Early in the second quarter, CBS shared a clip of Mahomes delivering a passionate and possibly frustrated address to his offensive line. Minutes later, it seemed like the Chiefs might have finally been coming into form when they used running back Isiah Pacheco at quarterback for a touchdown.

But the Chiefs followed up the trick play with two costly mistakes, giving the Raiders' defense some expensive gifts. Las Vegas capitalized on consecutive miscues and scored two touchdowns in just five seconds late in the second quarter.

The first touchdown was an 8-yard fumble return by defensive tackle Bilal Nichols. It was the result of another attempted trick play involving Pacheco, this time gone awry.

On the Chiefs' next offensive snap, cornerback Jack Jones notched a pick-six for a 33-yard touchdown.

When halftime arrived, the Raiders led 17-7, and the Chiefs were booed off the field at home.

The third quarter saw Mahomes attempt to play hero ball by scrambling on what felt like every snap, but the Raiders' defense held. The Chiefs were unable to score in the quarter, and Las Vegas increased its lead with another field goal from Carlson.

Pacheco took a knee to the head after his helmet came off in the second half, and he was ruled out with a concussion in the fourth quarter. In a game where everything seemed to be going wrong for Kansas City, the medical table collapsed when Pacheco attempted to lay on it.

The Chiefs' offense seemed to have some momentum in the fourth. Mahomes evaded two defenders and kept the play alive before he sent a touchdown pass to wideout Justin Watson.

The Raiders were able to run the ball on the Chiefs' defense on the ensuing drive, though, and held on for the upset.

Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce and Mahomes both fought tears once time ran out. Pierce, in a postgame interview, reflected on the Raiders' resilience through a turbulent season. The team is now 4-3 under his leadership after previous head coach Josh McDaniels was fired midseason.

Mahomes was also emotional on the sidelines. Heading into the contest, he was 17-0 in AFC West matchups after Nov. 1 since 2019. While that's a pretty niche stat, it's representative of a dominant run that's ending for the Chiefs this season.