Quick recap of Chiefs-Raiders: Travis Kelce, defense drives undefeated KC

The Kansas City Chiefs won a dogfight against the Raiders in Las Vegas 27-20, improving their undefeated mark to 7-0 in the 2024 NFL season.

Let's dive into a few notes on a game where…

The Chiefs defense did it again.

… and no, I'm not talking about having to give up points in the opening game.

After Patrick Mahomes' third-quarter interception put the Raiders at the Chiefs' 3-yard line, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's unit was on fire, beating Las Vegas to a turnover on downs on four straight plays.

After gaining two yards on first down, Raiders running back Alexander Mattison hit a wall on second down. He lost two yards on third down – and on fourth down, defensive end George Karlaftis practically pushed his man into quarterback Gardner Minshew to share the sack with Turk Wharton.

As Spagnuolo will likely mention when speaking to the media on Friday, there is a lot to clean up. I joked about the opening drive; The coverage at the second level hasn't been good and it's unclear whether Kansas City has a sufficient cornerback replacement for Jaylen Watson (and now Nazeeh Johnson) — but he should be smiling on Sunday night.

The Chiefs won't be happy about giving up 20 points to the Raiders, but the goal line stand probably saved the afternoon.

Travis Kelce had a vintage appearance – and so does DeAndre Hopkins better late than never.

Tight end Travis Kelce had a top-notch performance against the Raiders, catching 10 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. We haven't seen it as much this season, but Sunday showed that Kelce can still be Mahomes' go-to target when needed. Las Vegas had no answer for the veteran tight end all afternoon.

Kelce's goal was his 12th against the Raiders organization. He has more touchdowns against the Raiders than any other NFL team.

Hopkins was acquired less than a week ago and offered a promising glimpse of the future. His two catches both resulted in first downs – and showed he had earned Mahomes' trust in just a few days.

In sport there are often feelings of what if. One memory of this is when franchise legend Jamaal Charles signed his one-day contract to retire as Chief. Mahomes gave him a ceremonial handover.

In my opinion, Kelce seeing the same field with an up-and-coming wide receiver like Hopkins falls into the same category. It's a move that would certainly have been nicer (and more fruitful in the long run) if it had happened two years ago. But salary cap restrictions made that impossible at the time.

Well… better late than never.

Key third-down conversions throughout the game ensured the Chiefs came out on top.

The goal-line score proved to be the series that turned the tide – but throughout the game, a series of critical third-down plays kept the Chiefs on the path to victory.

On Kansas City's first drive, which ended in a score, running back Samaje Perine took a third-down screen 21 yards down the field. Kalaftis' third-down knockdown of the second quarter gave the Raiders a field goal.

On the following touchdown drive, wide receiver Xavier Worthy kept the drive alive with a great route and a good catch on third down. Six plays later, tight end Noah Gray delivered on third down – and then made an even better catch on a third down that followed the score at the goal line when he deflected a pass that went through Worthy's hands.

Mahomes may not have had the day we all expected, but he had two key attacks in the third period to maintain the lead. As a team, Kansas City finished 12 of 16 on third down, proving the difference in a win over a stronger-than-expected performance from the Raiders.

The Chiefs had some concerning protection and penalty issues, but they found a way to resolve those issues on Sunday. This gives time to address these in the coming week. And since Monday Night Football is next on the schedule, they have an extra day for that.