Biggest Winners and Losers From Chiefs' Win Over the Las Vegas Raiders

The biggest Raiders-Chiefs game in quite some time lived up to the billing. Six lead changes, several big-play swings, and a finish that required every bit of Kansas City's blood pressure to rise.

In the end, the Chiefs defeated a longtime division rival on their home turf to move to 4-0 and took sole possession of first place not just in the AFC West, but in the entire AFC.

It wasn’t perfect, and it was tense, but it was a win, and the Chiefs head into their bye week unbeaten. Here is a full breakdown of the biggest winners and losers from Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Winners

Kenneth Walker, Running Back

What else is there to say at this point? Kenneth Walker leads the NFL in rushing with 537 yards through four games, 116 more than the next closest back. Sunday was perhaps his best performance yet, and the biggest splash came at the perfect time.

On a first-and-10 in the fourth quarter, he found an opening immediately and took it 76 yards to swing the game wide open, setting up Tyquan Thornton's second touchdown of the afternoon and giving the Chiefs a lead they would not relinquish.

His fourth-quarter production didn't stop there, though. He added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one from two yards out and one from 22, to put the game away. Even without the long run, Walker still topped 100 yards. He finished with 177 yards on 22 carries, and the Chiefs do not win this game without him, once again.

George Karlaftis, Defensive End

The Chiefs did not record a sack for the third straight week, which remains a legitimate concern. But 18 pressures, according to PFF, and 10 quarterback hits on Kirk Cousins was progress, and nobody showed up bigger along the defensive line than defensive end George Karlaftis.

He accounted for six of those hits, and none was bigger than the last one. On the Chiefs' final defensive snap, his hit on Cousins caused an errant throw that undrafted rookie Xavier Nwankpa hauled in, allowing Kansas City to end the game in victory formation.

Karlaftis finished with eight pressures, double his output from any game through the first three weeks. When the defense needed a play to close it out, he delivered it as he did all afternoon.

Special Teams

The penalty gaffes will still drive Chiefs Kingdom crazy, but the unit made two plays that directly changed the game's outcome. The first came immediately after Walker's opening fourth-quarter score.

As Dareke Young was being tackled on the ensuing kickoff return, linebacker Jeffrey Bassa punched the ball clean out of his hands for fellow linebacker Jack Cochrane to recover at the Raiders' 22. Walker needed one play to run it in for his second touchdown and push the lead to 30-19.

The second ensued after a Raiders touchdown and a Chiefs three-and-out, when punter Matt Araiza booted a 52-yarder that Xavier Nwankpa downed at the one-yard line, forcing Las Vegas to go 99 yards to tie or win. Araiza placed all five of his punts inside the 20 on the afternoon.

Wide receiver Nikko Remigio also contributed a 27-yard punt return into Raiders territory in the third quarter, and Araiza picked up 12 yards on a fake punt for a first down, though neither led to a score. It was the unit’s best performance of the season.

Losers

Tyquan Thornton, Wide Receiver

Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton would have been just below Walker in the winners column if not for how his afternoon ended. After setting a career high with five catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including a 42-yarder and a 55-yarder that got the deep ball going for Kansas City, he suffered a dislocated ankle late in the game.

Doctors put the ankle back in place Sunday afternoon, and he flew back with the team, but he will miss significant time, and a season-ending injury is presumably not out of the question.

It is a particularly cruel twist of timing. Rashee Rice exited earlier with a hamstring injury, and Thornton stepped up in his absence as the team's most reliable passing-game threat, though Xavier Worthy had by far his best game of the season. Thornton’s emergence was starting to feel like a real development for this offense. For now, that will have to wait.

The Intermediate Pass Defense

Exploiting the middle of the field against this Chiefs defense was always going to be the Raiders' game plan, and Las Vegas executed it well. The numbers were ugly.

Slot corners, linebackers, and safeties were targeted 34 times, allowing 26 catches for 301 yards, according to PFF. L'Jarius Sneed allowed nine catches on 11 targets for 88 yards, extending a troubling trend in coverage. Linebacker Nick Bolton was not far behind, allowing seven catches on eight targets for 79 yards.

Tight end Brock Bowers lived up to the billing with six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, but he was not the only problem. Las Vegas had six pass catchers finish with 32 yards or more. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will need to find answers in the middle of the field during the bye week.

The Offensive Line

Given the final result and their personnel, you will walk away feeling acceptable about the offensive line's performance. But acceptable is a relative term when you look at the details.

Mahomes took eight hits, three of them from Maxx Crosby. Right tackle Jaylon Moore allowed a team-high four pressures, and Mahomes finished 15-for-30 for 225 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions, his least efficient outing of the season, though he still averaged 7.5 yards per attempt.

To be fair, the Chiefs were without both Josh Simmons and Kingsley Suamataia (coach's decision), and they allowed just two sacks against an extremely talented defensive end unit. The passing game got the job done when it needed to. But the offensive line needs reinforcements, and the bye week could not have come at a better time for this group to regroup.

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