Raiders Fall Short Against KC, 30-29

The Las Vegas Raiders fall to 1-4 after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 30-29.

For the Las Vegas Raiders, it was more of the same.

The Raiders matched up with the Kansas City Chiefs for the entire game, in fact building a 17-point lead in the first half, but Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes to tight end Travis Kelce and rallied the Chiefs to a thrilling 30-29 victory before more than 76,000 fans at Arrowhead Stadium.

Las Vegas has a 1-4 record but could have won all of them, losing by five points to the Los Angeles Chargers, six points to the Arizona Cardinals, and two points to the Tennessee Titans, and with a little luck could be 5-0.

The Chiefs (4-1), again took control of the AFC West and won their fourth straight game against the Raiders ninth in the last 10.

Mahomes, who was held to 86 yards passing in the first half as he was pressured by the Raiders and sacked twice by defensive end Maxx Crosby, heated up in the second half and completed 29-of-43 passes for 292 yards, including touchdowns of one, four, eight and one yards to the All-Pro Kelce.

The final TD by Mahomes, who improved his record to 8-1 against the Raiders, to Kelce gave Kansas City a 30-23 lead with 7:25 remaining in the game. The Chiefs went for two, but Mahomes threw an incomplete pass and Las Vegas was still alive.

Derek Carr, who 19-of-30 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, took the Raiders 75 yards in seven plays, hitting wide receiver Davante Adams with a 34-yard touchdown pass. It was their second TD hookup of the game, as Carr threw a 58-yard to Adams for the first touchdown of the game in the opening quarter.

Adams had three receptions for 124 yards and running back Josh Jacobs added five for 39.

The Raiders also went for two after their final touchdown, and running back Josh Jacobs appeared to reach the goal line, but his knee apparently hit the ground before the football broke the plane.

Jacobs, who rushed for a career-high 144 yards in a victory over the Denver Broncos last week, was even better this time, increasing career-best 154 yards to 21 carries, including a 37-yarder, and a one-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 in the second quarter.

The Raiders forced the Chiefs to punt with 2:36 left in the game and Las Vegas took over on their seven-yard line and Jacobs with three runs for 21 yards, while Carr hit Hunter Renfrow for two passes of nine yards, but unfortunately and Adams was ruled out of bounds on what would have been a 15-yard catch to the Kansas City 39-yard-yard.

That would have put the Raiders in position for a 56-yard field goal attempt by Daniel Carlson, who made kicks of 53 yards to give Las Vegas 17-0 yards in the second quarter, and two more of 50 or 47 yards in the second half to increase his streak to 38 without a miss.

However, the Raiders never got close enough Adams and Renfrow ran together and knocked each other down on Carr’s desperation fourth-down pass deep down the field and the ball fell incomplete to end the Silver and Black’s chances with 47 seconds left in the game.

Mahomes took a knee and the game was over.

Matthew Wright kicked a career-high 59-yard field goal on the last play of the first half to cut the Raiders’ lead to 20-10, and after the Chiefs received the second-half kickoff, Mahomes put them in control with two touchdown passes to Kelce in the third quarter and the eventual game-winner in the closing minutes.

In addition to Kelce, who gained only 25 yards on seven carries, but made them pay off, Mahomes found wide receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling six times for 90 yards and wide receiver Mecole Hardman five times for 73.

Linebacker Divine Deablo led the Raiders with 10 tackles, cornerback Nate Hobbs had nine, linebacker Denzel Perryman returned from an injury to make eight stops and added a sack, while Crosby made four tackles, the two sacks, three quarterback hits, and three tackles for losses.

Raiders tight end Darren Waller sustained a hamstring injury in the first quarter and did not return.

The Raiders have a bye week for week six of the NFL season. They return to action in week seven when they host the Houston Texans. That game kicks off at 1:25 PM PT and can be seen on CBS.

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