Kelce stars as Chiefs battle to a savage victory over rival Raiders – TSN.ca

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs made their way to the locker room Monday night and faced a big hole against the Las Vegas Raiders.

One phone call in particular lit a fire among them.

It was a dubious penalty on Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones for roughing up Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, and no one in the Kansas City locker room could believe it. But instead of stewing about it or bemoaning their 10-point deficit, Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs used that as motivation to charge from behind in the 30-29 win.

“There was anger about how we’d been playing up to that point,” said Mahomes, who threw four touchdown passes to Travis Kelce. “We needed everyone to go out there and take the fight to them.”

The Raiders had one more chance when Davante Adams, who had previously made a 58-yard touchdown catch, added a 48-yarder with 4:29 to go. It came after Kelce’s last touchdown catch when Kansas City failed on a 2-point try that left the score 30-23. But instead of scoring an extra point, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels opted for 2 as well.

Josh Jacobs, who had been shredding the Chiefs defense all night, was stuffed at the goal line.

The Raiders got the ball back one last time with 2:29 left, and a long third pass to Adams on the Kansas City touchline looked to put them within field goal range. But play was checked and Adams failed to get both feet in bounds, and Carr incompletely shot fourth and 1 with 47 seconds left before the Chiefs timed out.

“We didn’t fall apart,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said. “We fought our way through adversity.”

Carr finished the race with a 241-yard pass and Jacobs rushed for 133 yards and scored as the Raiders lost to the Chiefs (4-1) for the fourth straight season. Daniel Carlson was 3-3 on field goals and extended his streak to 38 straight.

Which he wouldn’t have given for a chance at number 39.

“We had a chance,” Daniels said. “We just didn’t end up doing a game or two there to finish it off.”

The game of twists and turns began with the Raiders failing to score in their opening run for the first time all season.

Next time they made it up to you.

McDaniels, standing at eight inches in his own territory, sent his offense back onto the field. But instead of running to center or sneaking up with Carr, Jacobs aired it to Adams, who ran past Rashad Fenton for the 58-yard TD catch.

Adams and the Raiders continued to attack Fenton later in the halftime when a pass interference brought Las Vegas deep into Chiefs territory. Adams took another penalty on Jaylen Watson in the end zone, setting up Jacob’s brief TD fall.

It was 17-0 when Kelce finally reached the end zone for the Chiefs, but it seemed like the momentum had turned when Jones Carr pulled out from behind and landed him. But even though the ball came out clear and the Pro Bowl defender got away with it, referee Carl Cheffers threw a penalty flag and called out on Jones for roughly hitting the passer.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid rushed in from the sidelines to argue. And after teams traded field goals in the final minutes and the Raiders were 20-10 up, Reid cornered Cheffers and hit him again as teams headed to the locker room.

“I got it out of my chest,” Reid said. “I said what I had to say.”

The questionable penalty came a day after another questionable rude call from referee Jerome Boger about Atlanta’s Grady Jarrett against Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady that sealed the Buccaneers’ victory over the Falcons.

Cheffers told a pool reporter that Carr “receives full protection on all aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing stance. So when he got tackled, I decided the defender landed full body weight on him.”

Mahomes said: “It wasn’t the best call in the world. You have to find a way to recover and we did that.”

Have you ever.

The Chiefs opened the second half with a 75-yard march, which Kelce capped with his second TD reception. And after forcing a quick punt, the Chiefs went 57 yards and watched Kelce haul in his third to put Kansas City 24-20 ahead.

Midway through the fourth quarter, it was the Chiefs who got a penalty kick gift.

They led 24-23 when fill-in kicker Matthew Wright, whose 59-yarder set the franchise record for longest field goal before halftime, pulled a 37-yarder to the left. But defensive end Malcolm Koonce was called to a halt, giving Kansas City an automatic first down, and Mahomes found Kelce again four games later to extend the lead to 30-24.

Teams traded touchdowns — and missed conversions — on the stretch as the Chiefs walked away with the win.

“We’re close, but close doesn’t count in this game,” Carr said. “It’s frustrating.”

INJURIES

Raiders: TE Darren Waller retired in the first half with a hamstring injury. TE Foster Moreau (knee) was already unavailable despite returning to training on Saturday.

Chiefs: DT Tershawn Wharton tore his left cruciate ligament early in the game. … OL Trey Smith (pectoral) was inactive after the first 21 games of his career. DE Mike Danna (calf) and K Harrison Butker (ankle) were also inactive.

NEXT

The Raiders have next week off before taking on the Texans in Las Vegas on October 23.

The Chiefs host the Bills on Sunday in a repeat of January’s playoff overtime thriller.

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