Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
Well, the Raiders did give the defending Super Bowl champs all they could handle by jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter after a rejuvenated Josh Jacobs took a handoff from Las Vegas quarterback Aidan O’Connell and raced 63 yards for a touchdown.
Then, the Kansas City Chiefs and their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes said enough is enough.
Mahomes led the Chiefs on two TD drives in the final seven minutes of the first half and then engineered as touchdown march with the first possession of the second half.
The Raiders’ juicy 14-0 lead dried up and morphed into a seven-point deficit.
For the Raiders, it was fun while it lasted — leading a team that wants to return to Allegiant Stadium in February to defend their NFL title in Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas.
The Raiders’ top defender — Maxx Crosby — did sack Mahomes and the Raiders got a chance to move the ball.
The Raiders’ new starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell tossed a lovely throw to receiver Jakobi Meyers to set up a Daniel Carlson field goal in the third quarter.
The Raiders stemmed the Chiefs’ 21 straight points and were back in the ballgame, trailing, 21-17, as the third quarter ended.
The Chiefs fans made another strong showing at Allegiant Stadium. If they stayed in hotel rooms in metro Las Vegas, the fans paid a hotel room tax that is being collected to help Southern Nevada pay off its $750 million contribution to help build the stadium for the Raiders. The stadium helped increase the Raiders’ franchise value to $6.2 billion.
A late fourth quarter field goal padded the Chiefs’ lead to 31-17 over the Raiders. The red-clad Chiefs fans then began their tomahawk chop celebrations.
And that was the final as the Raiders fell to five wins and seven losses on the season. Interim coach Antonio Pierce now has lost two straight games after winning his first two against both New York teams here in Las Vegas.
Pierce was happy with the quick 14-0 start.
But he acknowledged the superior team took over the game to improve to eight wins and three losses on the season.