Football: Chiefs beat Raiders 27-20 to improve to 7-0

Football: Patrick Mahomes passed for 262 yards and two touchdowns and the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs remained undefeated with a 27-20 victory over the reeling Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs (7-0) extended their winning streak to 13 games, including the playoffs. Their last loss was at home to Las Vegas, but the Chiefs are 5-0 against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium and 6-0 there including the Super Bowl in February.

Las Vegas (2-6) has lost four consecutive games, but this was the first time the Raiders had scored at least 20 points since a 20-16 victory over Cleveland on September 29th 2024. Mahomes became the fastest quarterback in National Football League (NFL) history to reach 30,000 yards, doing it in his 103rd game. Matthew Stafford had hit that mark at 109 games.

Mahomes’ top target was Travis Kelce, who had 10 catches for 90 yards, both season highs. Mahomes last caught double-digit passes on October 22nd 2023, and this was the highest-yardage output since November 26th 2023. Kelce also had a touchdown catch, his 75th to pass Jason Witten for fifth on the NFL tight end list. Kelce moved within two of breaking Tony Gonzalez’s team record.

Gardner Minshew completed 24 of 30 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns for Las Vegas, but was sacked five times.

Jakobi Meyers, who missed the two previous games because of an ankle injury, caught six passes for 52 yards and the touchdown. Minshew had the burden of carrying an offense that had virtually no running game, finishing with 33 yards, averaging 1.6 per carry. The Raiders, however, made the champs work for this victory, but failed to take advantage of key opportunities.

The Raiders had the ball and 1:57 left on the clock at the end of the first half, but went with two running plays before an incomplete pass on third down. The Chiefs got the ball back and went 56 yards on nine plays for Harrison Butker’s 42-yard field goal with four seconds left that made it 17-10. The Raiders trailed 17-13 in the third quarter when safety Trevon Moehrig intercepted Mahomes’ pass to give the Raiders the ball at the Chiefs 3.

Running plays by Alexander Mattison resulted in plays of 2 yards, a no gain and a loss of 2 before Minshew was sacked on fourth down. The Chiefs then went 87 yards on 19 carries, taking 9:43 off the clock, to set up another field goal from Butker, this one from 24 yards early in the fourth quarter for a seven-point lead. A strip sack of Minshew set up the final Chiefs’ touchdown with 4:59 left to all but seal the victory, though the Raiders scored a touchdown just before the 2-minute warning to create some drama.

The Chiefs then recovered the onside kick.

On October 27th 2024, fans of both Michigan State Spartans football and the Michigan Wolverines football teams descended upon Ann Arbor to celebrate the much anticipated rivalry game between the schools. The rivalry came from proximity, where groups of siblings, parents, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances diverge in loyalties to Michigan’s two largest institutions. The rivalry had taken an ugly turn as of late, with the Spartans embroiled in controversy both from a fight in the Michigan Stadium tunnel in 2022, the last time these teams met in Ann Arbor, as well as former coach Mel Tucker’s sexual misconduct scandal.

The Wolverines, meanwhile, won a national championship in 2024 mired in controversy for a sign-stealing scandal. On October 21st 2024, the National Football Conference (NFC) North was the center of power in the NFL with all four teams at least two games above .500 heading into Week 7. Three of the teams were on the marquee for the early slate, the Bears were on a bye after their Week 6 35-16 drubbing of the Jaguars in London, and the Vikings, Lions, and Packers all had a chance for statement wins.

Minnesota hosted Detroit in a clash of the top two teams in the division. At 5-0, the Vikings were the lone unbeaten team remaining in the NFC, while Detroit, at 4-1, was the only other team in the NFC that had not yet reached two losses. Detroit won both matchups last season en route to its first division title since 1993. The Packers were also at home in Week 7, facing a tall task in a visit from the Texans.

Green Bay was able to tread water earlier in the season with Jordan Love out for a few games, but he was back and the Packers had won their last two games after a close loss to the Vikings in Week 4.

On October 9th 2024, New York Jets football coach Robert Saleh was escorted out of the building by the team’s director of security. That did not happen when the Jets fired Saleh’s predecessor, Adam Gase. It was not unprecedented, but it was unusual. The Browns did it to George Kokinis in 2009. For high-level employees of any organization, it was a bad look.

It was a power play, plain and simple. It was a stone’s throw from deliberately mispronouncing the former employee’s last name during the press conference regarding the move. Of course, there was a chance that would happen with Saleh, too. In September 2024, the one thing the Baltimore Ravens football team never had for Lamar Jackson was a great running back to help him out.

Mark Ingram had a good run near the end of his career. Between injuries, J.K. Dobbins was effective. But the Ravens, in this era, had not had a back like Derrick Henry. It was clear that Henry still had plenty left to offer at age 30. Henry started off the night with an 87-yard touchdown and had a huge night as the Ravens put an 0-2 start behind them with their second straight win, a dominant 35-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Henry rushed for 199 yards on 24 carries.

Henry had 151 yards on 25 carries against the Cowboys. Henry was well within his prime, even at age 30. When Henry was available this past offseason, he reportedly wanted to sign with the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys claim they decided they could not afford one of the best backs of this era. The Ravens were pretty happy it unfolded that way. Henry added an element to the offense that the Ravens had not experienced before.

If the Ravens made it back to the playoffs, Henry could carry some of the load that Jackson was used to having on his shoulder. That could not be a bad thing. On the Ravens’ first play of the game, Henry made some history. Henry got between some good blocks and broke into the secondary. Henry was one of the fastest players in the NFL, and even though he was 30 years old with the heaviest workload in the league over the past few years, nobody was going to catch him.

Henry went 87 yards for the touchdown, and that was the longest run in Ravens history. With that, Henry became the only player in NFL history to have the longest run for two different franchises. Henry’s 99-yard run for the Tennessee Titans was tied for the longest in NFL history. Henry scored again on a 5-yard pass from Jackson early in the second quarter and the Ravens led 14-3.

The Bills were fantastic to start the season but unable to keep up with the Ravens.

A couple of punts did not help. The Bills punted on fourth-and-2 from midfield in the first quarter, and fourth-and-1 from their own 39 in the second quarter when they trailed by 11 points. It made no sense for Bills head coach Sean McDermott to punt in either spot, and it clearly hurt his team’s chances of staying in the game. The Ravens scored touchdowns after each of those punts.

McDermott had not been that conservative on fourth down this season, but like his team as a whole, he seemed overwhelmed by the Ravens. The Bills started the second half with some momentum. Josh Allen had a ridiculous downfield pass to Khalil Shakir while he was going out of bounds, and that gained 52 yards and set up a touchdown. The Bills got the ball back right away, but Allen’s arm was hit by Kyle Van Noy on a throw.

It was a fumble that the Ravens recovered, and soon after Jackson scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to put the Ravens back ahead by 18 points. Even when Henry made a mistake it turned out well. After Henry had a 38-yard run to set up the Ravens inside the 5-yard line, he fumbled on his way into the end zone. But fullback Patrick Ricard recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and Baltimore led 35-10.

One of the reasons the Ravens started 0-2 was that they stopped feeding Henry in the fourth quarter and that allowed the Las Vegas Raiders to come back and beat them.

Since then, Henry has destroyed the Cowboys and then the Bills. It did not take the Ravens too long to figure out that Henry could handle as many carries as anyone was willing to give him, and they would be a better offense as a result. The Ravens had a great team last season but nobody like Henry. In an American Football Conference (AFC) championship game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens forgot almost completely about the running game and that was a big reason they lost.

That would not happen again if the Ravens found themselves in a similar situation. Henry was a future Hall of Famer, and the Ravens were a much different team with him in their backfield. In the 400th consecutive sellout of Memorial Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team of University of Nebraska (NU) held a lead at halftime. No. 22 Nebraska leads No. 24 Illinois 17-10 at the half.

NU had led at halftime of every game this season. The Husker offense took some time to get going, punting after a single first down on the opening drive. The next offensive possession saw a more than eight-minute drive end with a short field goal. The field goal was an answer to University of Illinois (UI) Fighting Illini racing downfield for an easy touchdown on their opening drive.

The next possession was not so successful, as Blackshirt John Bullock ripped the ball free.

The Big Red scored a touchdown four plays later. After Illinois tied the game 10-10 with their own field goal, Nebraska looked to be answering with another scoring drive. Dylan Raiola threw a beautiful ball to the end zone but the Illini defender ripped the ball from Isaiah Neyor, giving the freshman QB a second tough-luck interception in as many games.

The Illini did nothing with the extra possession, coming up short on a fourth down in Nebraska territory. With 3:22 to go in the half, NU burned 3:06 and got a highlight-reel touchdown catch from Neyor to take the lead into halftime. Nebraska had outgained Illinois in total yards 235-160. Neither team had run the ball particularly well, though NU did have 79 yards to UI’s 37.

Raiola was 16-for-23 for 156 yards and two touchdowns, with that one interception. Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer was 9-for-12 for 123 yards and a touchdown. Illinois would have the ball to begin the second half. After a successful trip to Brazil, the Eagles returned to Philadelphia for their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons on “Monday Night Football”.

The Eagles offense got off to a rocky start in their first game game, where they turned the ball over deep in their own end twice, but the defense only allowed two field goals, which set the stage for the Eagles to right the ship.

Running back Saquon Barkley was the star of the show, tying an Eagles record with three touchdowns in his debut with Philadelphia. Kirk Cousins’ debut in Atlanta was not quite as well received. Cousins threw two interceptions in his first game with the Falcons, an 18-10 loss to the Steelers. The Falcons’ defense came to play in Week 1, however, keeping the Steelers out of the end zone and allowing just 270 yards of offense.

The Texans dominated the Bears in the first half, but they led only 16-10 at halftime “Sunday Night Football”. Houston had 206 yards to 91 for Chicago and had punted only once. Tommy Townsend’s only punt cost the Texans, though, going 37 yards to the Houston 49. The Bears used the field position for a touchdown. Khalil Herbert ran it in from 2 yards out with 32 seconds left in the second quarter to complete the eight-play drive.

It was 2 of the Bears’ 18 rushing yards on 11 carries. Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick of the Bears, had played significantly better than he did in his debut, going 12-of-15 for 91 yards. Williams had taken two sacks. DJ Moore had three carries for 35 yards. With one second left in the half, Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn responded with a 59-yard field goal.

Fairbairn also had field goals of 56 and 47 yards in the first half.

Texans quarterback CJ Stroud completed 14 of 19 passes for 173 yards with a touchdown, a 28-yard pass to Nico Collins. Collins had five catches for 86 yards, including two of the highlight-reel variety. Stefon Diggs had two receptions for 26 yards. Joe Mixon, who had a big day in the season opener, had only 19 yards on six carries. College football week 3 did not look very appetizing on the surface, but you never know when there was going to be a seismic upset.

No. 4 Alabama blowing out Wisconsin after Badgers QB Tyler Van Dyke suffered an injury on the opening drive. No. 6 Missouri continued that with a nervy come-from-behind home win over No. 24 Boston College. No. 16 LSU also needed to rally on the road against South Carolina after falling behind 17-0 early. The Tigers did just that, earning a crucial SEC win as the Gamecocks’ game-tying kick sailed wide as time expired.

Perhaps the most notable result of the day was yet another disastrous Florida State loss. The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins had arguably drawn an equal amount of attention as playoff hopefuls in recent years, and yet their AFC East rivalry had been something of a lopsided affair. Dating to 2017, in fact, the Bills had won 13 of their last 15 matchups with Miami, including playoffs. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, meanwhile, was just 1-6 against his division foes.

Both sides entered their next matchup, an anticipated “Thursday Night Football” showdown that kicked off Week 2 of the 2024 campaign, with a 1-0 record.

Plenty of questions existed under the surface, however, with Buffalo barely fending off the upstart Arizona Cardinals in Week 1, and the Dolphins coming off a dramatic week that included a much-publicized pregame clash with law enforcement. In January 2024, NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield threw three touchdowns in Detroit, but his final pass was picked off by Derrick Barnes with just over a minute left in the game and the Buccaneers lost 31-23. Mayfield joined the Buccaneers on a one-year deal as a free agent in 2023 and his first season was a big rebound from a couple of down years spent with the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, and Los Angeles Rams.

Mayfield threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns during the regular season and then threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles. After the game, head coach Todd Bowles said that Mayfield had definitely earned a new contract and he liked the idea of having another year in the offense.