By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis said he’s not attending Raiders home games at new Allegiant Stadium this season because of the coronavirus pandemic that did not allow all of the team’s season ticket holders to attend home games.
But he was in person Sunday in Kansas City for the Raiders’ shocking win over the defending Kansas City Chiefs, 40-32.
The Raiders fell behind, 14-3, in the first half, but broke a 24-24 tie in the second half to go on to upset the previously 4-0 Chiefs, led by their popular and talented quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
After Raiders quarterback Derek Cart threw his first interception in 316 attempts in the first half, Carr tossed 50-yard-plus touchdown passes to receivers Nelson Agholor (59 yards) and Henry Ruggs III (72 yards), the Raiders’ first draft pick as the Las Vegas Raiders.
We knew we were going to come in and be aggressive and I’m thankful to Coach (Gruden) for that. Obviously, we talk about things all the time, but when you’re really healthy, the full offense is open. We can do everything that we want to do — Derek Carr
After the game, coach Jon Gruden told media the Raiders didn’t draft Ruggs to run hitch routes.
We tried to be aggressive. We threw down the field today, and some of the pro-football focused statisticians will have to scratch their heads because they are going to have to figure out if he really did that. Ruggs is healthy and he is just going to go down the field. We tried to get Waller a couple of times, but you can’t always throw it down the field. They have Chris Jones and Frank Clark and honey badger (Tyrann Mathieu). I am just happy that Derek got a big win as a starting quarterback and so did our young football team when it did not look real good early. — Jon Gruden
Raiders owner Davis said if all season ticket holders can’t attend home games at Allegiant Stadium, then none would.
In Kansas City, there were 16,000 fans allowed in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Raiders’ win snapped their seven-year losing streak in Arrowhead Stadium and also stopped the Chiefs’ 13-game winning streak, which included a Super Bowl win over San Francisco in February. The Chiefs’ last loss was to the Tennessee Titans Nov. 10.
“I’m really proud of this team,” Gruden said after the win. “We had a lot of guys step up.”
The Raiders’ next game is at Allegiant Stadium Oct. 25 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are scheduled to visit Las Vegas.
The Raiders are 3-2, while the Chiefs drop to 4-1. It was the Raiders’ first win over the Chiefs since 2017.
Here’s a Q and A with Gruden after the game.
And with Mahomes after the game.
A summary:
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