Raiders Ghosted
October 21, 2025
Chiefs Kingdom welcomed back Rashee Rice and he reciprocated the cheers with a few touchdowns on the scoreboard. Las Vegas came into town searching for an identity offensively while posting somewhat league average numbers on defense. However, the defense certainly took a big hit once Maxx Crosby was ruled out with a knee/back injury to start the second half.
Raiders fans are left wondering what’s going on after suffering a 31-0 shutout. Geno Smith came into the day as the NFL leader in interceptions thrown in what’s been a disappointing start to the season. The two names below him are Jake Browning with 8 and Tua (Who was benched for Quinn Ewers on Sunday) with 7. The play has been abysmal and the excitement for the Fall has quickly evaporated. In fact, any hope that was remaining was surely extinguished by the hated division rival Chiefs. Pete Carroll and company will need to start making some decisions as they’ve now dropped to 2-5 on the year.
The big story was the return of Rashee Rice for the Kansas City offense. Patrick Mahomes has returned to his MVP-like ways and this team is hot off a Monday Night victory over the Detroit Lions. Many wondered how Rice would be integrated into the offensive scheme. Well, those who wondered did not have to wait long to find out as Rice caught a short little pass from the 2 yard line, broke through a facemask and reacquainted himself with the endzone.
Mahomes was surgical and took full advantage of the poor pass defense of the Raiders. Whether Crosby was out there or not – it just didn’t seem to matter as Mahomes diced them up while completing passes to nine different receivers. No receiver really stood out as yardage was evenly distributed amongst most of the group. When Kansas City is on like they have been recently, they’re one of the scariest units in the league as anyone is capable of being the number one playmaker. Mahomes and company would have been in for a much larger day had some of the starters (including QB1) weren’t pulled heading into the 4th quarter. Come on Coach Reid, you could have let Minshew throw one pass.
Overall, It was a complete and utter beatdown and the Chiefs left zero doubt. The Raiders will return to Vegas and begin figuring out their issues, however, it’s quite possible we’ll look back on this part of the season as the period where Kansas City morphed back into the league juggernaut and started their Super Bowl run.
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
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