Chiefs Have Dominated Raiders in Recent Seasons

The Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs have a long history, but the Silver and Black have struggled in recent seasons.

Quarterback Jarrett Stidham plays against the Kansas City Chiefs for the second time in his career when the Las Vegas Raiders host one of their oldest rivals on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

All Stidham has to do is go head-to-head with All-Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl LIV over the San Francisco 49ers when he was selected the game’s Most Valuable Player.

In 2020, when he was with the New England Patriots, Stidham came off the bench in the second half and completed 5-of-13 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown, plus two interceptions as the Chiefs claimed a 26-10 victory at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

That’s also how it’s been for the Raiders recently against another American Football League charter member in 1960. Kansas City has rolled to four consecutive victories and won 14 of the last 16 meetings dating to 2014.

“When you’re out there, you understand the rivalry,” Coach Andy Reid of the Chiefs said. “It has been a long-standing rivalry, probably as close are you’re going to have to a college atmosphere that way, as far as rivalries go.”

Legendary Chiefs Coach Hank Stram once said: “We knew we had to go through Oakland to win the championship, and they knew they had to go through Kansas City. ... That made it a very bitter rivalry.”

The Chiefs, who started as the Dallas Texans those 63 seasons ago, won five of the first six games in the series before Coach and General Manager Al Davis came to Oakland in 1963. He turned the Raiders around with the help of two victories over Kansas City, and the Silver and Black became competitive in the series against their arch-rival.

The Raiders won 10 of 11 games against the Chiefs between 1973 and 1978 while becoming the dominant team in the AFC West.

“Any time we can beat Kansas City, it’s a good thing,” future Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw of the Raiders said. “We also have the (San Diego) Chargers and (Denver) Broncos in our division, but the Chiefs might be our top rival.”

Added defensive end Ben Davidson: “Those were my favorite games, against the Chiefs. ... I always likened them to a heavyweight fight. You knew you were going to get beat up, but it was fun. We needed the Chiefs. We wouldn’t have been as good without them.”

However, now the Chiefs have taken a dominant 71-54-2 lead over the Raiders, including a 30-29 victory over the Silver and Black earlier this season at Arrowhead Stadium.

This was one of nine frustrating defeats by a touchdown or less this season for the Raiders (6-10), who built a 17-0 lead in the second quarter of that game on a 58-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Derek Carr to wide receiver Davante Adams, a one-yard scoring run by Josh McDaniels and a 53-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson.

Then Mahomes, who passes for 292 yards, threw touchdown passes of one, four, eight, and one yard to All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, the last midway through the fourth quarter to give the Chiefs a 30-23 lead.

However, the Raiders weren’t through, and Carr threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Adams with 4:27 left in the game, but Coach Josh McDaniels decided to go for two points on the conversion, and running back Josh Jacobs was stopped just short of the goal line.

“When you play the Oakland Raiders and you’re the Kansas City Chiefs, you know they’re going to come out with that mentality that they’re going to win,” Mahomes said after the game. “They’re going to come out fighting. It’s a rivalry game.”

However, that’s how things have gone for the Silver and Black recently in this great series.

The Raiders' final game of the season is at Allegiant Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, Jan. 7, and kicks off at 1:30 p.m. PST/4:30 p.m. PST. It will be available to watch on ESPN and ABC.

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