Just when you thought you had all the answers, the Las Vegas Raiders changed the questions.
The Las Vegas Raiders rolled into Arrowhead Stadium and handed the defending champion Chiefs their first loss of the season 40-32. This is the first Raiders win in Arrowhead Stadium since 2012.
Derek Carr and Patrick Mahomes went to battle in this great duel — however statistically speaking Carr had the upper hand against Mahomes. Carr was more accurate with the ball completing 70 percent of his throws in comparison to Mahomes' 51 percent.
The story of the struggles Patrick Mahomes faced today begins and ends with the dominating performance of the Silver and Black's defensive line. The line routinely forced great pressure on Mahomes, forcing him to continuously have to run out of the pocket and make uncharacteristic throws.
The Raiders defense was also able to get three sacks on Mahomes including one from Chris Smith, who was activated from the practice squad before the game.
Coach Jon Gruden was very pleased of the performance his defensive line showed, especially as it was coming into game lacking depth with Maurice Hurst (COVID) and Maliek Collins (shoulder).
"If you look at the number of scrambles Mahomes had today, the effort that we had to try to get him (was there)," said Coach Gruden. "This is as hard as it gets; we didn't have many substitutions available. Chris Smith, Datone Jones came up off the practice squad. It was their debut today, and thank God we had them."
Maxx Crosby also had a successful game today rushing Mahomes out of the pocket and picking up a key sack on a third-down possession. The sack ran up Crosby's season total to four, as well as being his third straight game with a sack.
"It's every one of us out there," said Maxx Crosby regarding the success of the defense. "As a defense we know that Mahomes loves to extend plays, and we had to give everything we had. I know personally I've never been that tired.
"We stayed together, we played with confidence and we just cut it loose from start to finish."
The Silver and Black will now be going into their bye week with a winning record at 3-2 with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers awaiting them. The bye week will definitely help get the defensive line healthier to reach an even more explosive level than they did Sunday against the Chiefs.
