Week 16 Provides Opportunity for a Merry KC Chiefs Christmas Against Raiders
The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Las Vegas Raiders in a rare Christmas Day matchup on Monday. In fact, it will be the first time these two teams have played each other on Christmas in nearly 20 years. However, the Chiefs and Raiders have both played on Christmas in the past decade and if history tells us anything, Kansas City should be walking away with a win. The Chiefs are 1-0 in Christmas games under head coach Andy Reid, dominating the Denver Broncos 33-10 in 2016. The Raiders are 0-1, falling to the Eagles 19-10 the following year in 2017.
Looking a little bit further back in the memory bank, the Chiefs and Raiders have had some holiday history of their own. Back in 2004, the Chiefs won a wild 31-30 game over the Raiders on Christmas Day. Larry Johnson had 79 yards and two touchdowns while Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez recorded 11 catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns of his own. Kicker Lawrence Tynes was 0-for-2 on field goal attempts on the day but was able to knock home the game-winning kick with 29 seconds left to give the team and its fans a Christmas miracle to remember.
Can the Chiefs recapture that Christmas magic this year? Will a rested Isiah Pacheco be able to come back with a two-touchdown performance like Johnson did in 2004? Will Travis Kelce be able to channel his inner Tony G and go off for over 100 yards and two touchdowns? If Kelce can get 76 yards on Monday, he will have his eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season, breaking his own NFL record for 1,000-yard seasons by a tight end. If the Chiefs can get in the end zone four times, that should be good enough for a Christmas win with the defense they’ve been fielding this season.
The Raiders will try to build on the success they found in their previous game, a 63-21 win over the lifeless Los Angeles Chargers. It was, by far, rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell’s best game of his young career. He threw for 248 yards and four touchdowns in the contest. The Raiders' defense also played one of their best games of the season, scoring two touchdowns to close the third quarter and open the fourth quarter. The Raiders don’t have a ton to play for at this point in the season, but beating the Chiefs in Kansas City would be like winning the Super Bowl for this franchise. The Chiefs may be a 10-point favorite, but they’ll need to play their best football to win by a double-digit margin.
Last week the Chiefs were able to beat the New England Patriots on the road by 10 points, 27-17, despite losing the turnover battle and not playing their best. Rashee Rice continues to be a standout as the season continues, as he recorded nine catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Rice’s coming-out party happened against the Raiders about a month ago when he torched them for eight catches, 107 yards and a touchdown. Mahomes will likely continue to target the rookie wideout as long as defenses give him that option.
The Chiefs and Raiders will also be doing something that has never been done in NFL history: playing at noon on a Monday. As the NFL tries to continue its television ratings domination, diving into more Christmas football seems logical in the next part of their progression. Seeing two old AFC West rivals battling it out as families gather around the Christmas tree will be about as Americana as it gets. Between Patrick Mahomes, Kelce and maybe a Taylor Swift sighting or two, there will be plenty of star power.
A win for the Chiefs would grant the franchise its eighth consecutive AFC West title. That would give the team a wonderful Christmas Day locker room celebration with new hats and shirts, but that’s just the first step toward the bigger goals for the season. It starts with clinching a playoff spot, then hosting an AFC Championship Game and getting back to a Super Bowl. All of those goals are still on the table for the Chiefs as they head into this matchup with the Raiders.
