Chiefs vs Raiders: Trap game or a chance for some KC revenge?

The Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders are currently on opposite ends of the NFL spectrum. The Chiefs are the two time defending Super Bowl champions and are the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL. The Raiders are 2-5 and look headed toward another complete rebuild. When these two teams meet in Vegas on Sunday it has the makings of a total mismatch, but could this actually be a trap game for the Chiefs?

You only have to look back to last Christmas to find an example of the Raiders upsetting a superior Chiefs team. The Chiefs were just a few weeks away from making a run through the playoffs and winning their second straight Super Bowl, but the Raiders came to town with interim coach Antonio Pierce and Aidan O'Connell at quarterback and beat the Chiefs 20-14, in large part because of two defensive touchdowns.

That wasn't the only time last season when an inferior division rival got the best of them. At one point last season the Chiefs had won six games in a row and then went into Denver and laid an egg, losing 24-9 to a Broncos team with Russell Wilson that was 2-5 going into the game. That's the exact same record that the Raiders have going into this game.

Despite their 6-0 record, the Chiefs have played some ugly games so far this season (mainly on offense), so it wouldn't be all that shocking for them to come out and lay an egg against a division rival. Those kinds of trap games happen to teams from time to time, so this one has the makings of a potential trap game for the Chiefs.

Why would the Chiefs overlook this Raiders team? Well, Las Vegas is reeling right now. They have lost three games in a row. They traded away their star offensive player in wideout Davante Adams. They benched quarterback Gardner Minshew in favor of Aidan O'Connell only to see O'Connell get injured and put on the DL and there's already talk that Antonio Pierce may not have been the right hire for the Raiders. There are even talks about trading their other best player, Maxx Crosby, to get more picks to rebuild around. As if that's not bad enough, the Raiders are the only team to lose to the 1-6 Carolina Panthers, a team that has been outscored by 133 points through seven games.

Could revenge be the perfect trap game deterrent for the Chiefs?

That all having been said, there are reasons to believe that the Chiefs may be motivated to send a message in this one. First of all, that Christmas day loss has to still be a bitter memory for everyone that was with the team last year. In fact, that was the last time the Chiefs lost a game. Some of you may remember back in 2020 when Jon Gruden's Raiders took a victory lap around Arrowhead after upsetting the Chiefs. It didn't sit well with the Chiefs and the following year they swept the Raiders by a combined score of 89-23.

The Chiefs aren't above being a little petty sometimes and that goes double for quarterback Patrick Mahomes. It's so well known that Mahomes can hold a competitive grudge that fans joke about his alter ego "Petty" Mahomes. If that Christmas day loss isn't enough to have activated "Petty" for this game, the Raiders may have provided some extra motivation in training camp.

So what was Mahomes response when asked about the Kermit puppet?

This Sunday Mahomes and the Chiefs will finally have a chance to handle it. The only question is if the loss to the Raiders last year and the training camp incident will provide the motivation the Chiefs need to take care of business against an inferior struggling team or if this could be another divisional trap game for KC.

What do you think Chiefs fans? Do you think this could be a trap game for a Chiefs team that's already had some trouble getting their offense going or do you think their defense is going to shut down a struggling Raiders offense and "Petty" Mahomes is going to want to send a message in this one? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below.