REPORT: Recent Rankings Validate Raiders' Near-Win in KC

The team that has arguably played the best against the Kansas City Chiefs over the last calendar year is the Las Vegas Raiders. Although the Raiders are 1-3 against the Chiefs over their last four matchups, they are still the last team to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium and did so without completing a pass in the fourth quarter.

For the second season in a row, the Raiders were forced to face the Chiefs twice in about a month's span, a difficult task for any team. However, the Raiders have done a solid job putting up a respectable effort against the back-to-back champions.

The Chiefs swept the Raiders this season and are headed to their third consecutive Super Bowl. However, the Raiders were arguably one bad snap away from beating the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium for a second consecutive season.

In their most recent matchup against the Chiefs, the Raiders' offense averaged seven yards per play, ran for over 100 yards, and outgained Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense by over 100 yards. Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell threw for two touchdowns and over 300 yards against a formidable Chiefs defense.

The Raiders' near-win against the Chiefs is even more commendable considering how well the Chiefs defense played this season. Ben Rolfe of the Pro Football Network recently ranked every defense in the National Football League, ranking the Chiefs defense as the 14th-best defense in the National Football League.

"Much like the offense, the Chiefs’ defense has shown the ability to flip the switch in important situations come playoff time," Rolfe said. "Kansas City struggled to stop the run for much of the AFC Championship Game, recording their third-worst EPA per rush (-0.10) of the season. Nevertheless, the Chiefs generated three critical stops on 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1, as well as a pair of two-point conversions.

"One positive that should translate to the Super Bowl was the pass rush, which has looked livelier in the postseason. Kansas City produced its fourth-best non-blitz pressure rate (46.7%) vs. the Bills, a week after their fifth-best rate in the Divisional Round win over the Texans. Overall, the Chiefs have a 44.6% non-blitz pressure rate in the playoffs, compared to 32.2% in the regular season. That’s especially deadly when paired with Steve Spagnuolo’s pressure packages."

The Raiders may have lost both games against the Chiefs, but the Chiefs went 15-2 during the regular season, with one of their losses coming in the very last regular season game in which Mahomes did not play. There is no shame in losing to a team that beat nearly every team it played this season.

Las Vegas played the Chiefs relatively well in their first matchup this season and had a chance to beat them on a game winning drive the second time.

The fact that a Raiders team with one of the worst offenses in the league and few household names on it, took one of the better defenses and arguably the best team in the league down to the wire, speaks volumes about the state of the Raiders.

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