Ranking the biggest Chiefs vs. Raiders games in rivalry history

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KANSAS CITY, MO – CIRCA 1972: Head Coach Hank Stram of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on from the sidelines during an NFL football game circa 1972 at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Stram was the head coach of the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs from 1960-1974. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

The Chiefs and Raiders have a long and contentious history. What were the five biggest games for the Chiefs franchise over the past 61 seasons?

The Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders take the field for Sunday Night Football this weekend. This will be the Chiefs first trip to Allegiant Stadium, one of the many new multi-billion dollar stadiums around the NFL.

The Chiefs have been on a hot-streak lately, with their only loss of the season coming to this same Raiders team now several weeks ago—back in Week 5. With the impending showdown upcoming, let’s take a look back through the rivalry’s history at the five most impactful games between the two teams.

1968 Season – Play In Game

The 1968 Kansas City Chiefs were an AFL powerhouse. With both one of the AFL’s best offenses and its best defenses, the team cruised through the regular season with 12 wins and only two losses. During the season, the Chiefs and Raiders traded drubbings of each other with the Chiefs winning the first meeting by 14 and the Raiders winning the second meeting by 17.

As fate would have it, the Raiders also had themselves a spectacular season finishing with the same record of 12 wins and only two losses. In those days, with only two divisions, the winners of each division faced off in the AFL Championship game to crown the league’s best team. Given each team had won a contest against the other, this necessitated a tie-breaker play-in game.

The Raiders of the 1960s were an imposing foe, finishing the 1968 regular season with the second ranked defense and the first ranked offense. They pummelled a number of opponents and posed a stiff challenge for the Chiefs to return to the AFL Championship game for a chance to play in Super Bowl III.

Unfortunately, December 22, 1968 was not a day to be fondly remembered for Chiefs fans. The Raiders had the team’s number, vanquishing them by an ugly final score of 41-6. The Raiders went on to lose to Broadway Joe and the New York Jets, who’d become the first AFL team to win a Super Bowl against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

While the season ended in defeat, the Chiefs would find sweet revenge in the following season.

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