The Kansas City Chiefs might have taken down the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4, but there's a far bigger takeaway from the AFC West showdown in Sin City. The big one going into the game was how both teams were undefeated, sitting at 3-0 entering the matchup. The Chiefs exited the week with a perfect record and handed the Raiders their first loss of the season and Klint Kubiak the first loss of his NFL head coaching career.
Sure, the Chiefs won the game and knocked the Raiders off their pedestal. It's always fun beating the Raiders, especially when the matchup has real bearing on the rest of the league. That being said, the bigger picture here is that Vegas put up one heck of a battle. Seriously, the Raiders did not make this one easy for the Chiefs, and hopefully that's not a sign of things to come for the Silver and Black.
Many people felt that the game against the Chiefs would show us all who the Raiders really were and if they were 'for real', so to speak. While it's still early in the season and anything can happen moving forward, the Raiders proved, even in the loss, that they're a force this year, and that's not something any of us expected to be the case.
The Raiders suddenly look like a legitimate AFC West threat
The Raiders were supposed to be the pushover in not only the AFC West but the entire league this year, and it made perfect sense as to why. They finished with the worst record a season ago, landed the top pick in the draft, and were rolling with Kirk Cousins at quarterback and a first-year head coach. Why wouldn't they be a mess?
Well, the joke's on us. The 3-1 Raiders look solid defensively, and their offense has been a huge surprise through the first quarter of the season as well. Everything appears to be coming up Raiders.
Cousins has looked close to resembling an MVP candidate, throwing 11 touchdowns and four picks through Vegas' first four games. Ashton Jeanty has given the Raiders' run game a real jolt. Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer are unreal threats to have at the tight end spot. It's almost unfair to see the amount of weapons the Raiders' offense has, especially with Kubiak taking over as the head coach and the play-calling he brings to that unit.
The Chiefs may have found an unexpected AFC West rival
The good news is that the Chiefs, despite the late push from the Raiders, did win the game and did so despite not bringing their A-game. But this could only be the beginning of the Raiders becoming a royal pain in the Chiefs' side, and maybe the AFC West won't be a showdown between the Chiefs and Broncos but between the Chiefs and Raiders. Who would have thought that was a possibility entering the season?
Hopefully, the Raiders' early success is simply the result of an easy schedule and that it's downhill for them the rest of the way. The next time these two will meet up is in the final week of the regular season, so let's keep our fingers crossed that Vegas has spiraled by then and the Chiefs aren't even playing their starters because they have the No. 1 seed locked up.
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