There may not be a lot you can count on with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, but one thing you can 100% bet the bank on is… after K.C. beats the Vegas tonight, Andy Reid will not be instructing his bus driver to take an extra lap around the Reliant Stadium parking lot. Reid said this last year about Jon Gruden’s Arrowhead drive-by stunt of stupidity: “That’s not our style.“
History, History, History… and Rivalry
History and rivalry, calendars of conflict traces back to the genesis of the AFL for these two teams. Of course, AFL founder, and Chiefs original owner, Lamar Hunt, didn’t start up the league with this kind of animus in mind.
The Chiefs were birthed as the Dallas Texans, along with the Raiders in Oakland, in 1960. They split their first two games in the league’s inaugural season, however, the Texans won in Oakland and the Raiders won in Dallas, back when the Texans played all their games in the Cotton Bowl. Fast forward a few years when the Texans became the Chiefs in Kansas City and K.C. sports fans were slammed with the loss of their own major league baseball team, The Athletics, who were bought and moved to Oakland in 1967 by Charles Finley and the City/Team conflict was cemented. Two years later that the expansion Royals hit fountain town, but the bitter rivalry between Oakland and K.C. was already in full metal jacket swing by then.
It was also in 1969 that the Raiders beat the Chiefs twice during the regular season winning the AFL West outright. However, the Chiefs not only made the playoffs, but beat Oakland in Oakland for the AFL Championship and you can bet that Raiders owner Al Davis wasn’t a happy camper. The Chiefs then went on to their first ever Super Bowl victory.
There have been many incessant incidents blotting the conflict calendar between these two teams over the decades. Too many to list them all, but a few worth citing:
Carl Cockerham of Bleacher report shares about the 1970 contest:
“In 1970, the Chiefs were leading the Raiders 17-14, late in the fourth quarter and appeared to be ready to run out the clock. Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson just got a first down on a quarterback keeper and in comes Raiders’ defensive end Ben Davidson to spear him while he’s down. That led Chiefs’ receiver Otis Taylor to retaliate, leading to a bench-clearing brawl that resulted in Davidson and being ejected. The off-setting penalties negated the first down, forcing the Chiefs to punt. The Raiders then put together a drive that resulted in a George Blanda field goal with eight seconds left, forcing a 17-17 tie. The result of this tie was the Raiders winning AFC West over the Chiefs by just one game.”
There’s also been the acrimonious exchange of players like: OC Rodney Hudson, WR Andre Rison, DB Albert Lewis, RB Harvey Williams, QB Rich Gannon going to the Raiders, or CB Stanford Routt, and especially RB Marcus Allen signing with the Chiefs. BTW, here’s what Marcus Allen says about pulling for one team or the other when the Chiefs play the Raiders these days:
“Most fans want me to pick one over the other, and I never do that. I embrace both teams. I enjoyed playing for both and I’ve had great experiences for both teams. So when they play each other I’m neutral, but when they’re playing someone else, I’m certainly rooting for both.”
It takes two to tango and since the Chiefs were admittedly not very good for most of the 1970’s and 1980’s, the rivalry was on a bit of a hiatus during those decades. In the 1990s, when Marty Schottenheimer took over in K.C., the Raiders game — and Raiders Week — became top priority once again. In fact, no head coach has won more games against the Raiders than the former Chiefs (and Chargers) HC, Marty Schottenheimer.
The Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982 but, in January of 1984, they beat the WFT by a score of 38-to-9, the largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl to that date*. The then commissioner, Pete Rozelle, first praised the losing team in his post game comments to which Al Davis took offense to, and when he finally had the mic in his hand, coined the phrase: “Just Win Baby.”
*Note: the Super Bowl margin of victory record is 45 points and belongs to the San Francisco 49ers who beat the Denver Broncos, 55-to-10, in January of 1990 in Super Bowl XXIV.
Just Win Baby is now an ancient axiom of the Raiders organization because there hasn’t been much of that for them in the past 20 years. The last time they won the AFC West was in 2002, when they went on to lose Super Bowl XXXVII by a score of 48-to-21 to Jon Gruden and the Tamps Bay Buccaneers. Here’s a look at the Raiders record since 2013, the year Lamar Hunt hired Andy Reid:
This year the Chiefs haven’t been playing their normal leading man role in the battle for the AFC West Title, so far. If the division leading Los Angeles Chargers lose to the Minnesota Vikings and the Broncos lose to the Eagles today, and, the Chiefs beat the Raiders… K.C. will be in first place in the AFC West, all by their lonesome. So, no matter how you look at it, the Chiefs are right in the thick of things in the West, win or lose today.
It’s not so crazy now to think that K.C. could end up in the AFC West’s driver’s seat heading down the stretch. Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports has a bold take that doesn’t involve K.C. not making the playoffs, which has been a popular view so far his year. Sullivan says:
“Chiefs reach AFC Championship – I think some people will think that the bold take surrounding the Chiefs should be that they miss the playoffs, but that’s currently where they are entering Week 10. I think it’d be much more shocking if Kansas City not only sneaks into the postseason but unlocks its potential and finds a way to the conference title game. All of the key pieces from their Super Bowl appearance last season are still in the fold and if Patrick Mahomes morphs back into the generational talent we’ve seen him be, they’ll be an extremely tough out in these do-or-die playoff games.”
Projecting the Chiefs to become winners, especially winners of the West, will mostly depend upon which Patrick Mahomes shows up from here on out: the Patrick Mahomes of 2018, 2019, and 2020… or… the Patrick Mahomes of 2021?
When any star player doesn’t play up to expectations, we fans have a tendency to overreact. That’s been a part of the problem this year.
The Raiders won their first three games against: the Ravens, the Steelers, and the Dolphins. Since then they are 2-and-3 with wins over: the Broncos and Eagles and losses to: the Chargers, the Bears, and the Giants. A win over the Ravens is always a strong win. However, recent losses to the 3-and-6 Bears and the 3-and-6 Giants is a cause for concern.
Yannick Ngakoue and Maxx Crosby present a tough set of edge rushers for the K.C. Tackles to deal with. RaidersWire had a chat with ChiefsWire and here’s what they had to say about the pair:
Crosby and Ngakoue are potent rushers, but neither excels at stopping the run. While they aren’t “bad” in that area, they specialize in getting after the quarterback. The Chiefs would be wise to try to run the ball early and often in this game to keep those players from teeing off on Patrick Mahomes. They are also vulnerable to screens as they are two EDGE rushers who want to get up the field as quickly as possible.
With the Jon Gruden situation still current, it’s hard to see this team having great success without naming a permanent coach. With the Henry Ruggs horrific situation hanging over the organization’s head, it’s unclear how that will effect their players and coaches. With the Raiders 2020 first round pick, Damon Arnette, being cut, the team gambles and loses taking another bad choice on the chin. Now, they signed 34 year old WR DeSean Jackson, so we will find out soon enough if he still has the speed that can replace Ruggs… or not.
Now, ex-Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is suing the NFL and this is from ESPN:
“Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, according to his attorney, claiming that Gruden’s emails were “selectively leaked” in order to “force him out of his job.”
This games sets up perfectly for the Chiefs to march into Reliant Stadium and pound the Raiders. Brad Weiss from “Just Blog Baby” thinks there are Four Reason the Raiders Will Beat K.C. including:
Yes, Derek Carr can be dangerous, but it’s more TE Darren Waller that worries me. Especially if Steve Spagnuolo plans on putting Daniel Sorensen on him.
Their offensive line would have to improve by ten-fold to hold off an anemic pass rush from an NAIA college. If K.C. can put pressure on Carr, this game may be over before it’s begun.
Home Field advantage hasn’t been the Raiders strong suit so far in Reliant Stadium. However, I hear it’s supposed to be maximum capacity. If K.C. fans travel well to Vegas and the Chiefs Flag buried underneath Reliant Stadium during construction does it’s juju-voodoo magic, we should be alight there.
The Las Vegas Pass Rush could be a problem. With Orlando Brown, at LT and with Andrew Wylie at RT in this game, if they are not up to the task… and… if Patrick Mahomes insists on consistently dropping 15 yards deep, then yes, the Raiders pass rush could be a bugaboo.
DNP = Did not participate
LP = Limited participation
FP = Full participation
NIR = Not injury related
“I like Ingram a lot, and I believe he’ll be able to add a little extra to the DL and help create a more “sum of the parts” situation. Reed hasn’t performed to their hopes/expectations yet, but he’s a guy with a proven track record who I hope can get going and string together some of the flashes he’s shown.”
The line on this game is, Chiefs by 2.5 points, but I see this one as a ten point victory for the Chiefs. What do you think?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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