Raiders’ D denies Chiefs chance to clinch eighth straight AFC West title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had a chance to capture their eighth consecutive AFC West title Monday with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.

Instead, the Raiders’ defense stifled Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense, holding the Chiefs to 14 points in a 20-14 win. The defense had two touchdowns within seven seconds to close out the first half and keep their own AFC West hopes alive.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders spoiled the Chiefs’ Christmas with an upset 20-14 win at Arrowhead Stadium Monday.

It was just the Raiders’ second win against the Chiefs since 2019, with both wins coming at Arrowhead Stadium as the Raiders improved to 7-8 and kept their faint playoff hopes alive.

It also kept interim coach Antonio Pierce’s dream of removing the interim tag alive.

Describe the game in two words: Stayin’ Alive: The Raiders have a shot at winning the AFC West, so long as they win at the Indianapolis Colts and at home against the Denver Broncos, and the Chiefs lose at home against the Cincinnati Bengals and at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Buy on a breakout performance: Malcolm Koonce as a game-changing pass rusher. The third-year defensive end became the first player ever to sack Mahomes three times in a game. In fact, Koonce, operating opposite NFL defensive player of the year candidate Maxx Crosby, now has five sacks in the last two games and seven sacks on the season.

QB breakdown: Aidan O’Connell again showed the highs and lows of riding with a rookie quarterback. He did not complete a pass in the second and third quarters, and did not have a completion in the fourth quarter. Luckily for him, and the Raiders, the defense carried the day and O’Connell’s up-and-down season continued with a 62-yard passing day while completing 9 of 21 attempts.

Pivotal play: RB Zamir White, starting for the second straight game in place of injured All-Pro Josh Jacobs, essentially ended the game with a 43-yard burst up the right sideline on second-and-4 with 2:35 to play and the Chiefs offense having found its groove. White finished with 145 yards rushing on 22 carries. — Paul Gutierrez

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Mahomes, Kelce both get heated on sidelines after tough first half

Patrick Mahomes gets animated toward the Chiefs’ offensive line, and Travis Kelce smashes his helmet on the sideline after a rough first half.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs have had season-long problems with offensive penalties, turnovers and dropped passes. Monday’s 20-14 loss to the Raiders featured both Las Vegas touchdowns coming on defense off of Chiefs turnovers — within seven seconds of one another.

The Chiefs had a chance to clinch the AFC West championship with a victory. But wrapping up an eighth straight division title will have to wait for another week.

Describe the game in two words: Offensive meltdown. The Chiefs took their sloppiness to new levels, including Raiders touchdowns on back-to-back turnovers.

Troubling trend: The Raiders were able to get consistent pressure on Mahomes without blitzing and mostly gave the Chiefs little room to run. Five of the Chiefs’ first 11 plays went for negative yardage.

Eye-popping stats: The first is that the Chiefs had -18 yards in the first quarter, which was the lowest for any NFL team since the Chiefs had -19 in the opening period of a 2011 game against the New York Jets. The second: The Chiefs are 3-4 this season at Arrowhead Stadium and have lost three in a row.

Pivotal play: The Chiefs led 7-3 in the second quarter when running back Isiah Pacheco took the snap, but fumbled as he attempted to hand the ball to Mahomes. The Raiders recovered and returned it for a touchdown, which allowed them to take the lead for good. — Adam Teicher