Final score: Chiefs pounce early, completely smother Raiders in 48-9 win

For the second time in a month, the Kansas City Chiefs blew out the Las Vegas Raiders — but this time, the dominance came early and often. Three takeaways allowed the Chiefs to get out to a 35-0 lead before halftime — and they never looked back on their way to a 48-9 victory that advanced them to 9-4 this season and extended their winning streak to six games. The Raiders fell to 6-7.

With his day done by early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished with 20 completions on 24 attempts for 258 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back Derrick Gore led the way on the ground with 66 yards — including a 51-yard score; Clyde Edwards-Helaire had two touchdowns on the ground. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill totaled 76 yards on four catches — the longest a vintage 38-yard completion. Along with the takeaways, the Chiefs’ defense earned three sacks in the first half to hold Las Vegas without a touchdown until the third quarter.

The Chiefs won the opening coin toss, electing to defer. On the Raiders’ first offensive snap, running back Josh Jacobs took a carry to the left side — where defensive tackle Jarran Reed made a tackle for loss and forced a fumble; cornerback Mike Hughes returned it for a touchdown, giving Kansas City an early 7-0 lead.

On the second drive, a sack by defensive end Melvin Ingram doomed the Raiders — forcing a quick punt.

The Chiefs took over with two running plays in a row, setting up a third-and-7. On that play, a target to tight end Travis Kelce fell incomplete.

Quickly getting the ball back, the Raiders looked to get a drive going with a few first downs — one coming by penalty after a third-down sack from defensive end Frank Clark — but their attempt ended with a sack that actually counted; Clark and Tershawn Wharton shared the credit.

Kansas City’s offense took advantage of the defense’s stop, going 75 yards on five plays to score the unit’s first touchdown of the game; the big play came from a deep completion to wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who got behind the defense for 44 yards. A few plays later, running back Darrel Williams took a quick pass to the end zone from 23 yards away to make it 14-0.

In response, the Raiders got a first down from Jacobs on the first play of their next drive — but proceeded to get into a third-and-5, where Carr missed a quick throw to a receiver with safety Tyrann Mathieu in coverage.

After another Las Vegas punt, Kansas City ended the first quarter by starting another touchdown drive, highlighted by big-yardage receptions from Kelce, Tyreek Hill and wide receiver Byron Pringle — whose 28-yard gain set up running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the rushing touchdown.

Trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter, Las Vegas’ attempt at answering was quickly interrupted by an interception on the drive’s second play: an attempt over the middle was bobbled by tight end Foster Moreau — and then landed in the hands of Mathieu. Safety Dan Sorensen helped break up the pass.

The Chiefs’ offense took their time moving down the short field, aided by a defensive holding penalty to get into scoring position. From the 1-yard line, Mahomes threw a quick, designed pass to wide receiver Josh Gordon on an in-breaking route at the goal line. His first score with the Chiefs extended their first-half lead to 28-0.

Trying to dig out of the huge hole, the Raiders ran twice before getting into third down — where Carr found wide receiver Hunter Renfrow over the middle to convert. However, Mike Hughes forced a fumble as he tackled, and Mathieu recovered.

With time running out in the first half, the Chiefs drained clock with effective runs and passes. Past the two-minute warning, a Mahomes scramble was followed by a rushing touchdown by Edwards-Helaire — making the score 35-0 with 90 seconds remaining before intermission.

Las Vegas used a fake punt and some chunk gains to get into position to score before halftime — but had to settle for a field goal. At the break, it was 35-3 in favor of Kansas City.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Mahomes was sacked on second down — putting the offense in third-and-16. However, a vintage completion from Mahomes to Hill on an out-of-structure play turned into a first down conversion and 38 total yards. In Raiders’ territory, the Chiefs got a first down then stalled after a penalty and a sack. On third-and-15, a screen pass failed; the Chiefs converted a field goal to make it 38-3.

Midway through the third quarter, the Raiders drove the field to score a touchdown and bring the score to 38-9; Renfrow had two big catches on the drive, including the touchdown from four yards away where he beat cornerback Charvarius Ward on a pivot route. The Raiders missed the extra point.

Kansas City’s responding drive took the game into the fourth quarter. From there, they got into Las Vegas territory with a successful screen pass to Derrick Gore on third down. They converted another third down by way of a shovel pass to Kelce. A few plays later, a run by Gore fell short of the sticks on third down — leading to another field goal that extended the Chiefs’ lead to 41-9.

With 10 minutes left in the game, the Raiders went up against Kansas City’s defensive backups. They got into third down, where a scrambling Carr was smacked by defensive end Alex Okafor and had the ball jarred loose. The fumble was recovered by safety Armani Watts.

On the following play, backup quarterback Chad Henne handed off to Gore — and then watched him take off for a 51-yard touchdown run right through the middle of the defense. Another extra point made the score 48-9 as the clock ticked under six minutes left.

The Raiders drove down the field in a meaningless possession, getting close to the end zone as the two-minute warning hit; on that play, Mike Hughes forced his second fumble of the game with safety Juan Thornhill recovering.

The Kansas City offense kneeled to close out the 48-9 victory.

Injuries

Tyreek Hill briefly left the game during the first drive of the second half after a hard hit from safety Jonathan Abram; from the CBS broadcast, Hill could be seen with hints of blood in his mouth after being taken to the blue medical tent. He returned to the field just a few snaps later.

Special teams

Kicker Harrison Butker converted a 54-yard field goal to end the first possession of the second half, extending the lead to 35 points; he also made a 37-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. He converted all six of his extra-point attempts.

Punter Tommy Townsend had one punt, which traveled 52 yards and pinned Las Vegas at their own 11-yard line.

Punt returner Mecole Hardman returned to the starting position after losing his spot to cornerback Mike Hughes in recent weeks; he returned one punt for 11 yards.

Statistics