The Kansas City Chiefs held off the Las Vegas Raiders in a tough back-and-forth game between division rivals.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Las Vegas Raiders, 30-27, in a back-and-forth battle between undefeated AFC West rivals that came down to a pair of late touchdowns from running back Kenneth Walker III.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter as the Raiders scored first on a nifty 4-play, 50-yard drive after a turnover on downs by Kansas City, with the drive featuring a big-play strike from quarterback Kirk Cousins to tight end Ian Thomas from 27 yards out for the score.
The Chiefs struck right back on a short 2-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to Tyquan Thornton. Their drive went 69 yards in 10 plays, with the big play being a 41-yarder from Mahomes to Xavier Worthy that tied the game at 7-7.
Field goals became the order of the day in the second quarter, with the Raiders getting two and the Chiefs one. That made it 13-10 at the half, with coach Klint Kubiak declaring “we’re gonna win this game” as he left the field to head to the locker room.
But Kubiak took points off the board in a scoreless third quarter as he accepted a penalty after a field goal from kicker Matt Gay, and a fourth-down incompletion followed.
The fourth quarter featured a total of 34 points, with the Chiefs striking first after a 76-yard run by Walker followed by an 8-yard touchdown strike to receiver Tyquan Thornton, who would later leave the game with a brutal ankle injury. That made it 17-13, and a Gay field goal followed to make it 17-16.
Another field goal briefly gave the Raiders a 19-17 lead with just under five minutes left, but Mahomes led another drive that Walker finished off with a two-yard touchdown run to give KC a 23-19 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
A key fumble from receiver and return man Dareke Young gave Kansas City the ball back, and a 22-yard run from Walker upped the Chiefs lead to 30-19.
The Raiders did manage a late drive that ended with a 20-yard TD toss from Cousins to tight end Brock Bowers from 20 yards out, and a two-point conversion made it 30-27. But the subsequent onside kick failed, and the Chiefs finally held against Cousins and company, with an interception from safety Xavier Nwankpa snuffing out the final rally to keep the Chiefs undefeated at 4-0 as they took sole possession of first place in the AFC West.
