Las Vegas Raiders 20-14 Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes throws pick-six as Raiders score twice in seven seconds to stun Chiefs
Zamir White rushes for 145 yards while Jack Jones scores a pick-six as the Las Vegas Raiders keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a 20-14 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs; the defending champions fall to 9-6 as they miss chance to win AFC West title
Tuesday 26 December 2023 12:46, UK
The Las Vegas Raiders scored two defensive touchdowns for the second straight week, including a pick-six of Patrick Mahomes, as they upset the Kansas City Chiefs 20-14 at Arrowhead on Christmas Day.
Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols returned a fumble eight yards for a touchdown, before Jack Jones took an interception 33 yards for another score seven seconds later as the Raiders (7-8) snapped a six-game losing streak to the Chiefs.
Kansas City (9-6) squandered an opportunity to clinch the AFC West for the eighth consecutive year with one of their worst performances of the Mahomes era.
Along with two defensive touchdowns, Harrison Butker missed a chip-shot field goal, penalties and dropped passes were again a problem, and twice they failed to convert on fourth down in the second half.
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The Chiefs had a chance after Mahomes hit Justin Watson for a touchdown with 2:42 to go. But on the ensuing possession, the Raiders' Zamir White got loose for a 43-yard gain, picking up a first down that allowed them to run out the clock.
Mahomes finished 27 of 44 for 235 yards and an interception; he nearly threw a second but it was overturned upon review.
The Raiders, playing without injured running back Josh Jacobs, won despite a dismal day from their own offense.
Aidan O'Connell was nine of 21 for 62 yards, never completing a pass after the first quarter, while White had 145 yards on the ground. Malcolm Koonce meanwhile led the way on defense with a career-high three sacks.
Stats leaders:
Las Vegas Raiders
- Passing: Aidan O'Connell, 9/21, 62 yards
- Rushing: Zamir White, 22 carries, 145 yards
- Receiving: Jakobi Meyers, 3 catches, 42 yards
Kansas City Chiefs
- Passing: Patrick Mahomes, 27/44, 235 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Rushing: Patrick Mahomes, 10 carries, 53 yards
- Receiving: Rashee Rice, 6 catches, 57 yards
Chiefs coach Andy Reid had spent the past few weeks lamenting the sloppy play that kept costing the Super Bowl champs.
They couldn't have been much sloppier on Christmas Day. The Chiefs went three-and-out on consecutive series to start a game for only the second time with Mahomes at quarterback, and were held to minus-18 yards in the first quarter, the second-worst total for the club since at least 1991.
Their reigning league MVP was sacked twice in those two series, while two more offensive penalties only made matters worse.
The Chiefs finally pulled ahead when Isiah Pacheco took a direct snap 12 yards for a touchdown, and Las Vegas had given the ball right back after a punt.
Pacheco again took a direct snap but this time tried to hand off to Mahomes, who lost the exchange, before Raiders defensive tackle Nichols was there to scoop it up and run for the touchdown.
On the next offensive play for Kansas City, Mahomes was picked off by Jones, who returned it 33 yards for his second pick-six in consecutive weeks.
The Raiders' fourth defensive touchdown in the last two weeks, and their second in a span of seven seconds, gave them a 17-7 lead over their long-time divisional nemesis.
It was still 17-7 when the Chiefs' Butker, one of the NFL's most accurate kickers, missed a chip-shot field goal before half-time, before the Raiders tacked on a field goal late in the third quarter to take a 20-7 lead heading to the fourth.
Scoring summary
What did they say?
Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce: "We knew it was going to be a great game, that it wasn't going to be high scoring. We didn't want it to be high scoring game. Hats off to our defense, Patrick Graham and our defensive staff. Hats off to our players for executing and staying with it. Being relentless. We talked about squeezing, finishing. Finishing the second quarter, finishing the fourth quarter and they did that."
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes: "All you can do is to move on to the next day and the next game. We're going to be playing a Cincinnati team that obviously wants to beat us. They're playing good football. Their quarterback is playing good. Their defence is always playing good with their defensive coordinator. All you can do is to move on, learn from your mistakes, get better. I still believe that we can go and do what we want to do. It's just how we can correct it as quickly as possible."
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid: "Listen, they played a better game than what we did today, in particular our offense. We struggled and that's my responsibility to make sure I'm putting the guys in the right position, to make plays and it didn't happen the way that I wanted it to. I take full responsibility for that, for the way we played offensively there and defensively we did some really good things so we've just got to straighten out some things on the offensive side and we'll be alright."
What next?
The Raiders will look to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they visit the Indianapolis Colts (8-7) on Sunday, while the Chiefs take on the Cincinnati Bengals (8-7).
Make sure you tune in to Sky Sports NFL every Sunday at 6pm for the first game of our triple-header of live action. The evening's entertainment also includes NFL Redzone action as hosted by Scott Hanson, as well as Sunday Night Football to round off the night.
Sky Sports will broadcast two exclusive live games every Sunday throughout the regular season in the 6pm and 9pm slots, while also showing every Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night match-up as well as every Christmas Day fixture.
Fans can also watch every minute of the playoffs across January, followed by Super Bowl LVIII at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11.
