Chiefs at Raiders Grades: Linebackers Fluctuate, DeAndre Hopkins Debuts

The Kansas City Chiefs had several noteworthy individual performances against the Las Vegas Raiders, from KC's linebackers to newly acquired wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Oct 27, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) throws the ball against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal (54) in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs are 7-0 after a road win over the Las Vegas Raiders, keeping KC as the NFL's only undefeated team. Which players put their best performances on the field in Las Vegas? A look at Pro Football Focus' weekly player grades can shine some light on which players had better or worse days than may have been evident on Sunday.

Two linebackers shine, one struggles

Linebacker Drue Tranquill posted the highest grade on the Chiefs in Week 8 (85.3) which was also Tranquill's best single-game grade this season by a wide margin. Tranquill, who played 40 of KC's 58 defensive snaps (69%) has been up-and-down this year, with his previous best grade coming in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers with a humble 62.4. Leo Chenal, playing 45% of the defensive snaps, received a fifth-best 76.8 grade from PFF. Even as Kansas City's third-most-used linebacker, Chenal maintains the second-best year-long grade among Chiefs defensive starters behind only defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Linebacker Nick Bolton was given a 41.7 grade from PFF against the Raiders, his worst grade of the season. While Bolton had a good-to-great game in regard to his tackling and run defense, PFF gave him a jarringly low 28.9 grade in coverage.

Patrick Mahomes returns to the top of the class

As has been well-documented, Patrick Mahomes has had a fine year by his standards of quarterbacking, paired with some terribly unlucky interceptions and a few games of sub-par performances (again, by Mahomes standards). In Las Vegas, PFF liked what they saw from KC's signal-caller. Mahomes earned the second-best grade on the team in the road win, receiving an 84.6 from the outlet. That's the best overall grade Mahomes has received from PFF since Week 1's 87.9.

DeAndre Hopkins is off to a good start in KC

With apologies to a few players who always seem to be near the top of the weekly PFF grades (Jones, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey) and a few others who deserve credit for solid days (Tershawn Wharton, Justin Reid, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Jawaan Taylor), it's hard not to talk about the new guy. Especially when the new guy is DeAndre Hopkins.

Hopkins received a 71.4 grade in his first 23 snaps of action as a member of the Chiefs. Just a few days into his KC tenure, Hopkins was more impactful than his box score would indicate, and it's nice to see PFF take a similar view, grading him as — by far — Kansas City's highest-graded wide receiver.

His first week in Kansas City produced his second-best PFF grade of the 2024 season. It's also worth noting that while Hopkins recorded 23 snaps, 14 of those plays had Hopkins running routes while nine were on running plays. On 14 passing plays, Hopkins was targeted three times and certainly could have been hit at least twice more. While Hopkins and Mahomes continue to work on their chemistry and timing, it was a promising debut for KC's new veteran pass catcher.

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