Raiders Week Part 1: The Magic Act

Welcome back, football fanz!

Last season, Alex Smith took snaps in Oakland, where the Chiefs fell to the Raiders in a vicious divisional shoot out. This time around however, our young Fortnite-playing, ketchup-loving, star rookie, Patrick Mahomes called the shots in what was yet another divisional shoot out, but with a different result.

With Sammy Watkins still out due to injury, and the Raiders’ keeping Tyreek “The Cheetah” Hill from roaming the jungle too much, the magic act of this game turned out to be Pat Mahomes and everyone’s favorite tight end, Travis Kelce. 

Kelce’s game got off to a rather auspicious start, when he transformed a beautiful catch into a clumsy fumble, allowing it to be picked up by the Raiders. Kelce did not make the same mistake twice and more than redeemed himself with touchdown grabs of 3 and 6 yards, giving him 9 touchdowns on the season - setting a career high. 

The magical - and possibly telepathic - connection that seemed to exist between quarterback and tight end, continued into the second quarter. On a 3^rd and a mile, (3^rd and 15 to be exact) Mahomes was flushed out of the pocket, but like the magician that Holthus has proclaimed him to be, he plucked a football out of a hat, causing to vanish and reappear in Kelce’s - 16 yards down field. 

Tension seeped into the 4^th quarter of the game, when the Chiefs were up 33-30 and had the ball with 75 yards to drive until they could, in Mitch Holthus’ words, “taste the sweet nectar of the end zone.” On 3^rd and 5, the offensive line gave Mahomes so much time in the pocket, Holthus stated, “He had time to play a game of Fortnite back there.” Mahomes then launched a pass to Kelce for a 25 yard gain on a crucial 3^rd down, continuing the magic act. 

The magic was not only limited to Mahomes and Kelce however. When Spencer Ware was asked how he would try to fill the gap that Hunt’s cutting caused, he answered simply, “There is no try, you just have to do it.” And do he did.

The Chiefs faced 4^th and goal at the 1 yard line, did they go for it? Of course they did. Mahomes backed up into the shotgun, then went in motion. Spencer Ware took the direct snap, faked a handoff to Hill and appeared to be stopped just short of the goal line, but Ware magically appeared across the plane with the ball in his grasp.

Kelce finished his day logging 12 hauled in passes for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns, not only that, but Kelce surpassed 1,000 yards receiving, marking his 3^rd consecutive season doing so. Mahomes wrapped up his magic act with 294 yards receiving, 52 yards rushing, no picks and 4 touchdown passes, bringing his season total to 41. Mahomes now joins Tom Brady and Payton Manning, as one of the only quarterbacks to post 41 TD passes in a single season.

The defense held their own as well, sacking Raiders QB Derrick Carr 3 times. At one point in the 3^rd quarter, the Chiefs 10 point lead became rather precarious, when on 3^rd down, the blitz was picked up, Mahomes had enough time for another magic trick, threw the ball to Tyreek Hill, the ball bouncing off his hands, falling to the turf, forcing the Chiefs to punt back to the silver and black. Upon receiving the ball, Carr handed the ball off to Raiders running back Jalen Richard, who weaved and ducked between Chiefs defenders for 17 yards, but at the last second, Kendall Fuller jarred the ball loose and the fumbled ball was quickly smothered by Chiefs cornerback, Daniel Sorenson. Mahomes made the most of the turnover, pulling more footballs out of his hat and sleeves for a 7 play 52 yard touchdown drive that ended in a 13 yard laser beam to Demetrius Harris. 

CBS announcer Ian Eagle proclaimed, “Patrick Mahomes… is a magician” in what turned out to be a 40-33 victory over divisional rivals the Oakland Raiders. 

Next Sunday, the Chiefs will host another rookie QB in Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens boast a stellar defense, which should pose more then a challenge for one of the league’s most explosive offenses. 

The BQB will be on hand to walk you through the next Mahomes magic show.

Editorial note: There is no ignoring the elephant in the room, which is that Kareem Hunt was cut from the team on Friday, and we will not hash out those details here. I will go as far to say that I defend the Chiefs, and think they made the absolute right decision in doing so.