Thursday Thoughts: The Andy Reid-era Chiefs own the Raiders
By KC Proctor
As a Chiefs fan born in 1996, my perspective of the Kansas City Chiefs’ and Las Vegas Raiders’ storied rivalry is unique. My first ever Arrowhead experience was Raiders week in November of 2006. Larry Johnson had a huge game, and Trent Green led the offense on a 50-yard touchdown drive with under five minutes to play. Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker hauled in receptions for big chunks on the go-ahead scoring drive, but it was safety Jarrad Page who stole the spotlight. He slipped under a Randy Moss curl route at the goal line, reeled in an interception with 30 seconds left on the clock, and sealed up a victory for the Chiefs.
As exciting and vivid as the memory of my first game is, the dramatic 13-17 finish that day was the peak of my exuberance for the Chiefs and Raiders rivalry. Since then, the Chiefs are 20-11 against the Raiders, and, more prominently, since Andy Reid took over as head coach in 2013, Kansas City is 15-3 against Las Vegas. I’ve spent my entire adolescence and adulthood knowing nothing but the Chiefs’ dominance over the Raiders. Ahead of this year’s primetime edition of Raiders week, I thought a deep dive into Andy Reid’s ownership of the Chiefs’ oldest rival would be fun.
To Derek Carr‘s credit, two of the Raiders’ three victories over the Chiefs since 2013 have come in primetime games, and I am willing to admit that he tends to show up when the lights are on. Carr even went 25-35 for 261 passing yards and 2 touchdowns when the Chiefs beat the Raiders 41-14 on Sunday Night Football last season. Not a bad day at the office by any means, just a bit slouchy in comparison to the day that Patrick Mahomes had—35 completions for 406 yards and five TDs—which led the way to the Chiefs’ win.
The Chiefs are 70-54-2 against the Raiders all-time, but the scale has been tipped even further towards K.C. throughout the Andy Reid era.
Beyond Vegas’ minutely measurable primetime success against the Chiefs, Reid’s offenses have simply had their way with the Raiders’ defenses of the past nine years. In 18 matchups against Las Vegas, Reid’s Chiefs are averaging 32.7 points per game (PPG). The scoring average among all teams in the NFL since 2013 is 23 PPG—Kansas City’s average PPG since 2013 is 27.4—so the Chiefs are outpacing the NFL average score by 10 when they play the Raiders.
People often throw numbers together to make a point, but this is a significant sample size. We’re talking about a near-decade stretch of time where the Chiefs are over 30% more efficient than the league average at scoring when they play against the Raiders. They are also scoring 17% more than their own average against all other opponents when facing off with their rival. Andy Reid’s pride in divisional dominance clearly shines through when he prepares for Raiders week.
Even more impressively, given the reputation of Andy Reid’s teams being so offensively driven, is how the Chiefs have performed defensively against the Raiders. Since 2013, the Chiefs are only allowing the Raiders to score an average of 18.6 PPG, while they have allowed an average of 20.8 PPG to all other opponents over that stretch.
K.C.’s offensive numbers against Las Vegas over the past nine years are among the most dominant that you’ll find between any rivals, but under Andy Reid, the Chiefs have outperformed their expectations on both sides of the ball. Big Red is surely looking forward to the challenge of playing the Raiders with how tough his defense has looked thus far in 2022.
I mentioned that this rivalry has been lackluster throughout my lifetime, but that’s not to say it hasn’t been fun to watch. Based on the trends of the 2022 season, I fully expect to see recent history continued on Monday night. After an offseason in which the Raiders committed to over $400 million in contract extensions in an effort to catch up with the Chiefs on the field, a primetime beatdown would taste oh so sweet. They couldn’t revive their end of the rivalry with their victory lap around Arrowhead in ’20, or by dancing on the logo in ’21.
If the Chiefs’ dominance can outlast their checkbook in ’22, the memory of Andy Reid’s dominance over the Raiders will be cemented in history.