Written by Jonathon Jones at SI.com
Three things became apparent during and after Kansas City’s 21-13 win against AFC West rival Oakland on Thursday night.
The first is that Kansas City, with its staunch defense and respected head coach and frustrating quarterback, is the only team in the AFC in New England’s class. The next is that Tyreek Hill has officially established himself as one of the most electrifying players in the NFL. And finally, with Derek Carr’s lackluster performance, the NFL MVP race is back to being wide open.
First thing’s first. The Chiefs have beaten their third straight playoff team, and their most recent triumph was against a team many believed to be the best in the conference. The Chiefs controlled the line of scrimmage Thursday night and outplayed and outcoached the Raiders for the second time this season.
Kansas City (10-3) has won at Denver, at Atlanta and now at home against the Raiders to sweep the series while going 4-0 in the toughest division in football. The road to Houston may very well go through Foxboro next month, but the Chiefs are in prime position to get the first-round bye after Thursday’s win.
Of course, quarterback Alex Smith had extra motivation Thursday night. NFL head coaches normally go out of their way to over-credit their opponents before a game, and they most certainly do after losing to the team. But Jack Del Rio disrespected Smith after the earlier Raiders-Chiefs game when he said if Smith has “got to rely on throwing the ball, it’s really not his strong suit. But if you allow them to run the ball, do some of their gimmicky things, then he comes to life.”
Smith had 202 passing yards by halftime and finished 17-of-26 for 264 yards, a touchdown and one interception. Tight end Travis Kelce put together his fourth consecutive game with at least 100 receiving yards, and the Raiders’ only scored one touchdown against the Chiefs’ defense (which came on a drive where linebacker Derrick Johnson left the game with an Achilles injury.)
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